


Harry Potter and the Magical Puberty

by writer2b



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-05-03 12:49:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 18
Words: 24,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14569377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writer2b/pseuds/writer2b
Summary: It is five years since the War. Harry is bringing up his Godson Teddy. He should be happy, but watching as - one by one - his friends marry or couple up, the aching loneliness in his heart grows. He feels that he will never find the man of his dreams. Then magic intervenes to change his life, just as it did when he was eleven years old.





	1. Chapter 1

Sunday, 6 April 2003

A litany of emotions swept over Harry, even as he made sure to smile broadly at the woman sitting opposite him who was nervously awaiting his reaction.

Joy, sadness, jealousy, guilt.

Joy, because it was happy news and he was, above all else, happy for her. She deserved this and she was almost like a sister to him.

Sadness for what might have been. It was almost five years since they had mutually agreed that they were better off as friends than as boyfriend and girlfriend. He did not regret that decision for a moment, but could not deny that even now he wondered what his present would be like if they had managed to make things work in the immediate aftermath of the War.

Jealousy, not because he still harboured romantic feelings for her. Definitely not that. But because she had found someone to spend the rest of her life with, someone to love and cherish her above all others.

Guilt for feeling anything other joy at her joy. She had been through so much and at times had struggled to overcome the grief and trauma which stubbornly clung to her in the months and years after the War.

“Well, are you going to say something or are you going to carry on sitting their grinning like an idiot?” Ginny asked, with a slightly bemused look.

Harry immediately enveloped her in his arms. “Congratulations, Gin. I’m so happy for you!” he said, squeezing her tightly.

“I’m so relieved!”

“What, you thought I’d be. . . How on Earth did you think I’d react?”

“I didn’t think you’d be anything other than pleased. Of course not! It’s just that you’re the first person I’ve told.”

“Really?! What about your parents and brothers?”

“You are one of my brothers, Harry. You know that. And as for my parents, you know the moment I tell my mother she’ll go into manic wedding preparation mode and I just want to enjoy this for a couple of days before she starts stressing me out with china patterns, dresses and wedding favours!”

Harry laughed as he looked over towards Molly, who had just licked her thumb and was trying to wipe a smudge of something from Ron’s face, whilst Ron desperately tried to avoid her. Hermione was rolling her eyes and then looked quizzically at Harry as she saw him and Ginny hugging.

“You’d better tell Hermione soon, though, because she’s just seen us hugging and you know I’m rubbish at lying.”

“Don’t worry, her and Ron were my next port of call anyway.”

“Harry! Harry!” They were interrupted by an excited sandy haired boy scampering up to them holding a smart wooden box. “Look what Cousin Draco got me!”

“Hey Teddy Bear!” Harry said, crouching down towards the boy and hugging him to his side. “Show me what you’ve got there.”

“Look! It’s a po-shuns set! I can make my own po-shuns!”

Harry groaned inwardly at the thought of the mess his Godson would create with what looked like a very expensive child’s potion set. He caught Draco’s eye in the distance and raised an exasperated eyebrow. Draco smirked and raised his glass at him.

“That’s amazing, Ted! We’ll write a proper thank you to Draco for it. Why don’t you put it on the table with all your other presents, though, for the moment? It’s not the sort of thing you should start playing with now.”

“Okay!” Teddy replied and obediently trotted to the present laden table.

Ginny had wondered off towards Ron and Hermione and Harry took a moment to look around the garden of 12 Grimmauld Place. It was filled with his friends and family and varying sizes of the next generation, as well as a few of Teddy’s friends from school and their parents, some of whom were Muggles. They were all gathered to celebrate his Godson’s fifth birthday and Harry smiled as he watched the boy run around with his friends. This was the first birthday party he’d had where his Muggle friends could attend as he had only recently managed to keep control of his hair colour. Whilst engaging in the daily battle to get Teddy to put on clothes that morning, he had impressed upon the boy the importance of keeping his hair it’s ‘normal’ dirty blond colour.

“I promise, Harry” Teddy had said, looking solemnly up at him. “But why do I haff to wear clothes?”

“Ted, we have this conversation every morning.”

“But you said that there’s nothing wrong with being naked and that it’s a good thing not to be ‘barrassed of being naked.”

Harry had sighed at Teddy’s ability to remember only those parts of their conversations which helped him in his quest to remain clothes free all day.

“Didn’t I also say that when we have guests you have to wear clothes because it’s not polite to be naked in public?”

Teddy had huffed and then a naughty glint sparked in his hazel eyes.

“But we don’t have any guests ‘til my party,” he’d said, before wriggling from Harry’s grasp and scampering out of his bedroom, his naked bottom flashing out of sight before Harry could do anything about it.

Harry smiled to himself as he remembered that morning’s scene. He felt a presence to his right and turned to find Draco Malfoy standing by him.

“Feeling rather pleased with yourself, are you Draco?”

“What do you mean, Potter?”

“Giving Teddy a potions set? Really?!”

“I got my first potions set when I was his age, Potter. I’m just looking out for my little cousin’s potions education. Merlin knows, if we left that to you he’d be well and truly fucked.”

Harry let out a bark of laughter. “Fair enough. You can show him how it works the next time you come over. And you can clear up whatever hideous mess he creates afterwards.”

“If I am supervising, there will be no mess.”

Harry couldn’t argue with that as he thought back to the meticulous way Draco had ordered and prepared his ingredients during Potions lessons at Hogwarts.

“So, how are things going with Astoria?”

“Well, thanks, Potter.”

“How long’s it been now? Four months?”

“Five.”

“Good for you. I like her, not that my approval matters.”

“It does not, but it’s still nice to hear.”

For Harry, one of the strangest developments in the five years since the War had been the friendship which had grown between him and Draco. Its roots had probably been planted in the events of that terrible day at Hogwarts. Harry saving Draco from the fiendfyre and Draco’s mother lying for Harry. Harry had then testified in support of both Draco and Narcissa at their trials a couple of months after the Battle of Hogwarts. Narcissa had been sentenced to two years’ house arrest without magic. Draco to a form of community service. Harry had refused to speak on behalf of Lucius Malfoy, who had been sentenced to life in Azkaban. He had never directly spoken about it with Draco, but felt as though he had understood why Harry had been unable to bring himself to defend the Malfoy patriarch.

A week or so after Draco’s trial, Harry had decided to return his wand to him. It hadn’t felt right to keep hold of it. He had nervously approached the Manor, memories of his last visit to the imposing property still fresh in his memory, Hermione’s screams echoing around his head.

It had been Draco, and not a house elf, who had answered the door.

“Potter?” he had said, surprise rather than irritation or animosity colouring his tone.

“Hi Malfoy. Er. . . I thought I ought to give this back to you,” he’d said, awkwardly thrusting the wand towards Draco.

Draco’s eyes had widened when he’d seen what was clutched in Harry’s hand.

“Are you serious?”

“Deadly, if that’s not a totally inappropriate way to describe it.”

A half smile had briefly appeared on Draco’s face, before being replaced by a look of longing as he reached out to take the wand.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“Why are you doing all this?”

“All what?”

“Testifying for my mother and me. Returning my wand.”

“Because it’s the right thing to do,” Harry had replied. “I know you probably think that’s a stupid Gryffindor thing to say, but then I suppose I am a stupid Gryffindor. I believed what I said at your trial, Malfoy. I know you did not want to do the things you were forced to do. We were all just children and pawns in the games of other men.”

Draco had looked questioningly at Harry’s description of himself as a pawn.

“Everyone deserves a second chance. If our world has any chance of recovering from the two Wars, of moving on and becoming a better place, then we have to put the past behind us.”

Harry had stuck out his hand again. “What do you say, Malfoy, fancy a fresh start?”

Draco had hesitatingly clutched the offered hand and they’d shaken on the new beginning.

“Would you like to come in?”

“I don’t think I can, quite yet,” Harry had replied honestly.

“I understand.”

A day or so later, a haughty owl had delivered an elegantly written letter to Grimmauld Place.

Potter

I was too overwhelmed to say what needed to be said when you visited earlier this week.

I want to thank you for everything you have done for my family in recent months. I know that you will already have had countless expressions of gratitude for all that you did in defeating Riddle, but I would also like to add my own thanks. I do not know whether the rumours are true, but by my mother’s own account you went willingly into the forest and did not raise your wand as he cast the killing curse at you. That is something that has reverberated around my mind since my mother told me about it. It is something I know that I would have been incapable of doing. If I am honest with myself, I know – too – that I would not have flown back into the fire to rescue you either. I have to live with that knowledge and try to use it positively.

I also need to apologise for all that I have said and done to you since we first met. I will not seek to excuse myself with explanations of my upbringing. I must accept that I chose to behave as I did and that I was at all times capable of seeing for myself that the things I had been told as a child and many of the values I had been taught to revere were worthless.

All I can do now, is to seek to be a better man and I am grateful for the opportunity you have given me to do just that.

I know that I owe apologies to Granger, Weasley and his family and many others of our peers and I will write separately to them.

With grateful thanks.

Draco Malfoy

Harry’s own scribbled reply had been short.

Draco [that’s weird isn’t it!]

Neither you nor your mother owe me anything, but I appreciate your letter all the same.

We both behaved in ways which we regret. Of all the things I have done, the one I am sorriest for is casting that curse at you in 6th Year. The fact that I did not know what it did is no excuse and, if anything, adds to the reckless stupidity of it.

Anyway, I thought I said that we had to move on from the past? No more apologies or gratitude, please.

Best

Harry

A few weeks after that, Andromeda had told him that Narcissa had been in contact. They had started a tentative correspondence, which eventually led to Andromeda visiting her housebound sister for tea with Teddy. Draco had returned the visit and he and Harry had crossed paths several times at Andromeda’s cottage. Harry also heard from Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Molly, Neville Longbottom and several others from his year, of letters of apology which Draco had written. Apologies for his own behaviour and that of his family as well.

Two years ago, Draco and his mother had attended Andromeda’s funeral and their presence had barely garnered a reaction. Harry had made it clear that they were both welcome to visit Teddy, who would now be living with Harry, whenever they wanted. Draco had taken him at his word and had visited two or three times a month, sometimes staying for lunch or dinner. Narcissa had been a less frequent visitor, though Harry knew that she kept mostly to the Manor even now that her house arrest was over.

After nearly five years, they had fallen into an easy friendship. Harry wouldn’t say they were close friends, but certainly good friends. He called him ‘Draco’ and it had stopped feeling weird some time ago. Draco mostly still called him ‘Potter’, but it was no longer spat out of his mouth as if Draco was expelling a particularly repulsive object he’d accidentally swallowed. Harry would almost say that it was said with a sort of affectionate warmth sometimes.

“I’m sorry I can’t make it tomorrow,” Draco said, interrupting Harry’s reminiscence.

“Don’t worry about it. I work for myself so it’s easy enough for me to take the day off. Besides, this is the ‘main event’ for Teddy. He’ll remember you being here for his party, not whether you joined the two of us tomorrow.”

“Yes, but tomorrow is his actual birthday.”

“He won’t remember that in a few years’ time.”

 

Several hours later, after the last of the guests has left and after Harry has put an objecting, but very sleepy Teddy to bed, he is collapsed on the sofa with a large glass of firewhisky. Kreacher did most of the clearing up, but Harry still feels exhausted and then there are also the feelings he has been trying to ignore. The feelings brought up by Ginny’s announcement, but which had been nagging at him for several months.

Ginny’s announcement and Draco’s obvious contentment in his own relationship hammered home something which Harry had been feeling for some time. He was the last of their friends to be coupled up. Ron and Hermione had married the year before; George and Angelina and Percy and Audrey were also married and had kids; Neville and Luna were engaged, as too were Ginny and Terry Boot now; Seamus and Dean had been together since 4th Year (though Harry hadn’t realised this until the‘8th’ Year they had all attended at Hogwarts after the War).

Harry, meanwhile, had not had a serious relationship since Ginny. He had realised soon after they had broken up that he was, in fact, gay and had managed to have a few flings over the ensuing few years. Then Andromeda had fallen ill and Teddy had become his focus. He would not change that for anything. He loved the little boy as much as if he were his own flesh and blood, but he had not wanted to confuse or upset him by introducing him to a string of men. There had been the odd date here and there, but nothing that had got beyond dinner.

Instead, his life had settled into an easy routine. During the week he would wake up at 6.30am, wake Teddy up at 7am, breakfast, take Teddy to nursery/school, work at his patisserie on Diagon Alley from 8.30am until 6pm, bathe Teddy (who had been collected by Kreacher from nursery/school and entertained and fed), put Teddy to bed, have his dinner, watch TV/read a book, collapse in bed. Weekends were spent entertaining Teddy, or simply enjoying family time with the Weasleys.

Harry sighed heavily and gulped down the firewhisky, the burn of it down his throat and into his stomach warming him, but failing to dispel the disquiet he felt. He poured himself another large measure and lay back on the sofa, with the glass resting on his chest. His heart yearned for companionship, for love and for the support of a man who would always be there for him. That was his final thought as his heavy eyelids closed and he dozed off.

 

Warm brown eyes peered down at him with affection. There was something familiar in them, but before he could think of where he recognised them, he saw his own hand brush the man’s stubbled cheek. Tousled, light brown hair fell over the man’s eyes as he turned and kissed Harry’s hand, the stubble gently tickling his palm. The man then leant down and kissed Harry hungrily, a kiss which Harry could feel himself return, their tongues crossing and darting against each other.

As all this was happening, Harry could feel the weight of the man’s legs on top of him and then, with a groan of pleasure, his hard length pressing against his own. As the man lifted his lips away, Harry moved his hands to caress his broad chest. He was muscled, but not intimidatingly so, his hard pecs covered in curls of darker brown hair, which Harry could see thinned to a line of curly hair leading down to his belly button, a belly button that lay amidst his rippled stomach. Harry could just make out the head of an impressively sized penis poking up beyond the bellybutton.

Harry had never felt such intense pleasure as the man kissed him along his jaw, into the nape of his neck, down onto his chest where he teased Harry’s nipples with his tongue and teeth. He felt the man’s hand brush up his right thigh and then, the pleasure deepened as his fingers caressed Harry’s balls, juggling with them until, at last, his strong hand gripped the length of Harry’s erection.

“Come for me Harry,” the man whispered into his ear as he continued to stroke him.

Harry was completely undone and felt his cock throb as ropes of cum spilled out of it.

“I love you Harry. I’m here for you, Harry, always,” the man said as he kissed Harry and looked lovingly into his eyes.

Harry woke with a start, the tumbler of firewhisky falling from his chest unto the rug beside the sofa.

“Fuck!” Harry exclaimed, as he watched the liquid soak into the rug. “Scourigy!” he waved his hand and the stain was gone.

“Oh fuck!” he muttered again, as he felt a sticky dampness in his groin. The humiliation he felt at having had a wet dream for the first time since he was in his early teens replaced the warmth and peace the last moments of the dream had brought to him.

After cleaning himself with another Scourgify, Harry glanced at the grandfather clock and saw that it was almost midnight. He left the tumbler in the kitchen and padded up the stairs to the top floor. As ever, the door to Teddy’s room was slightly ajar and the gentle light of his night light spilled onto the landing. Harry quietly entered the boy’s room and stared down at his sleeping figure.

Teddy’s thumb was in his mouth as the other hand clutched his favourite badger cuddly toy. Harry smiled and brushed the sandy hair out of his eyes.

“’Night Teddy Bear,” he whispered, stroking his Godson’s cheek. He heard the clock strike midnight downstairs. “Happy Birthday. I love you so much.”

Harry knew it to be true, but at the same time felt the aching loneliness return. The dream had been so vivid, the man in it so real and the feelings he projected everything which Harry felt was missing from his life. As he stroked his Godson’s cheek he wished with every fibre of his being that the man of his dreams could become a reality.


	2. Chapter 2

Monday, 7 April 2003

The following day, however, was so busy that Harry forgot about the dream. As usual, he woke Teddy at 7am and the little boy could hardly contain his excitement at their plans for the day. There was no battle to get him into clothes this morning. The battle was more to get him to eat a proper breakfast before they left for Muggle London. There was even more of a battle to get him to stand still as Harry measured him and marked his height against the chart in the kitchen, a six monthly ritual on Teddy’s birthday and ‘half birthday’.

“3 foot 10 inches,” Harry said.

“Is that tall?”

“So tall, you’ll soon be taller than me!” Harry replied, eliciting a giggle from Teddy.

“Can we go now?”

They travelled by tube, Teddy excitedly clutching Harry’s hand as the train raced through the tunnels, and finally arrived at the London Eye. After their trip in a pod with Harry pointing out the various buildings and interesting vehicles, they walked along the river to a theatre for a musical version of one of Teddy’s favourite TV shows. Hamburgers and ice cream followed and then they sat at the top of a bus which took them most of the way home, Teddy dozing contentedly against Harry.

They got home as the sun was setting, and Harry carried Teddy up the front steps.

“You’re getting heavy, Ted! Soon I won’t be able to do this anymore.”

It had been a perfect day. From Teddy’s perspective it ended on a high with the loss of his first baby tooth which had simply fallen out midway through supper. Harry frowned to himself as Teddy elatedly showed it to him.

“You didn’t tell me it was feeling loose, Ted,” Harry said.

“It didn’t,” Ted said. “It just fell out.”

Harry’s frown deepened. That didn’t sound right. He wondered whether it was something to do with Teddy being a metamorphmagus, but decided he knew too little about that part of his Godson to even speculate. Hermione would know. He’d ask her in the morning.

“Does this mean the Tooth Fairy won’t come?” Teddy said, taking Harry’s frown and silence to heart.

“Of course the Tooth Fairy will still come!”

After his bath, Harry struggled more than normal with his pyjamas.

“These seem a little tight, Ted!” he said. They were a little short too, with a good inch or so more of Teddy’s ankle showing than usual. He could have sworn these were the new pair he’d bought only a few weeks ago.

“I’m growing just like you said, Harry!” Teddy said, grinning broadly at Harry. The new gap in his teeth made Harry’s heart twinge.


	3. Chapter 3

Tuesday, 8 April 2003

“Look, Harry! Look!”

Harry nearly jumped out of his skin. He’d been about to go up to wake Teddy, but found the little boy breathlessly scampering into the kitchen bare chested and holding out his hand.

“Three more teeth fell out in the night! And I got a coin from the Tooth Fairy!”

Harry peered down into his Godson’s palm and saw the coin he had left under his pillow last night nestled amongst three small teeth.

Harry was no expert when it came to children, but he was fairly sure that having four teeth falling out in little more than twelve hours was not normal.

“Teddy, why don’t you open your mouth and show me where the teeth fell out?”

Teddy obediently opened his mouth and Harry could see only three gaps. The gap from the first tooth was already half filled with a new tooth and he could even see the new teeth starting to come through into the three new gaps.

“Teddy, are you feeling ok?”

“I feel fine, Harry!”

Harry felt his forehead. It was a little warm, but he didn’t think there was anything to worry about. Harry’s mind was racing. What was happening wasn’t normal. Multiple teeth didn’t fall out in the night and new teeth didn’t grow in that time either. He ran his hand through his hair distractedly. Then he remembered the times in his childhood when his aunt had shorn his messy hair, only for it to grow back overnight. Maybe this was the same thing? Teddy’s magic was simply filling the gaps quicker than would normally be the case. He felt his heart rate return to normal. That must be the explanation.

“Ted, you know I like you to wear your top for breakfast.”

“I know! But it was all torn this morning.”

Before Harry could process what that meant, Teddy walked up to the measuring chart.

“Aren’t you going to measure me?”

“We already did that, Ted, remember?”

“But now I’m six you need to do it again!”

Harry chuckled. “Now you’re six, huh?” he walked over to Teddy, who was standing straight against the chart. He was about to tickle him, when he glanced at the chart. The top of Teddy’s head was a good couple of inches above the mark he’d made yesterday. As he looked closer at him, he could see the pyjama bottoms were shorter still than they had been yesterday evening. Harry felt his heart rate sky rocket.

“Harry? Teddy?” a familiar voice called from the living room.

“Draco?”

“I thought I’d pop in to see how yesterday was,” Draco said as he entered the kitchen.

“Draco!” Teddy crowed, racing up to his cousin and wrapping his arms around his waist.

Draco patted him on the head and was about to say something when he saw the look on Harry’s face. He looked questioningly at Harry, who put his finger to his lips and pointed at Teddy.

“Why don’t you have your cereal, Ted? I need to have a word with your cousin.”

“Ok!”

Harry grabbed Draco’s arm and escorted him into the living room, where he explained everything that had happened since the evening before.

“And now he says he is six and he’s grown a couple of inches overnight.”

“And you’re sure that you got the measurements right last night?”

“Draco, I used the spell I always use.”

Draco moved back towards the kitchen and stared at Teddy as the boy ate his cereal and doodled on the back of the cereal packet.

“He does look older,” Draco said. “You can see that his hair is slightly less blond and his face has thinned a bit.”

“What’s happening?”

“I’m not the person to answer that, Harry.”

Harry agreed with Draco that the best thing to do was to try to hide their concern from Teddy. Draco asked Teddy about the day before as he finished off his cereal and then left with Harry’s assurance that he would let him know what was happening once he’d take Teddy to St Mungo’s.

Harry had managed to find some clothes that just about fit, including a sweater Molly had knitted for him from the last Christmas which had been one to ‘grow into’. They then flooed to St Mungo’s.

 

That evening, Harry sat staring into the fire, nursing a large glass of red wine, his mind racing with the diagnosis.

Magical puberty. It sounded so benign and yet was stripping Teddy of his childhood and Harry of the years he had been looking forward to watching him grow up. According to the mediwizards, Teddy was aging at rate of one year a day. It was an extremely rare occurrence, only 9 reported cases in history. All the previous cases had started at different ages and had finished aging at different ages too. The ‘best’ case was one in which the little girl had ‘only’ aged 5 years, though she had started at 12.

There was no cure. To Harry’s frustration he had been told that he just needed to let it run its course, whatever that might be.

As for the cause, the explanation had been vague. “A strong force of internal or external magic.” It was accidental and not deliberate. In the last case, 46 years ago, an older sibling was arguing with her younger brother and – in exasperation – had asked him why he didn’t just grow up. The mediwizards of the time suspected that her heightened emotions had caused a surge of accidental magic at the same time as she had spoken the words. The only other fully reported case, from nearly 100 years ago when a four year old boy, upset at being unable to join his parents on a trip and on being told that it was a trip for ‘grown ups’ had wished he could grow up. He had aged 14 years in as many seconds.

Harry sat racking his brains trying to think of what could have made Teddy wish to grow up. He could not think of anything that had happened in the last couple of days.

The only good thing about it was that Teddy was oblivious. To him it would seem completely normal, as though time had passed in its normal way. He would always know precisely how old he was. “I am six years old and four months,” he had proudly told the mediwizard they had finally seen. That had been at just after 9am.

Teddy would feel warm to the touch, his magical energy working in overdrive. He would also want to eat and read a lot, his body needing the energy and his mind able to absorb miraculous amounts of information at great speed. When they had got back from St Mungo’s Harry had given him a huge lunch and left him in the playroom with a pile of school and other books aimed at 6 to 7 year olds.

He had, as promised, informed Draco of the diagnosis. He had also sent owls to Hermione and Ron and Molly and Arthur. All of them had been over that evening, though they had all now left.

Tears streamed down Harry’s face as he contemplated the next few days and weeks. In a little over 10 days, Teddy would be an adult. Before that, he would no longer be the little boy who Harry could cuddle and kiss on the forehead. He was being deprived of the one person who loved him unconditionally. In 10 days, Teddy would no longer need Harry. Then what?


	4. Chapter 4

Sunday, 13 April 2003

Harry had watched with a mixture of wonder and horror as Teddy had grown over the last few days. His hair had lost the last vestiges of blond and was now a light brown. His face no longer had any traces of its childhood chubbiness, and nor did his stomach which was slim, his legs similarly slim and long as he walked into the kitchen that morning.

He was, as he had been since the diagnosis, naked. 6 year old Teddy had been delighted when Harry had told him that he no longer needed to wear clothes. There was little point when he would outgrow them in a day. As he smiled sunnily at Harry and gave him a hug, his mouth now filled with all adult teeth, Harry tried to return his grin.

“Morning, Ted!” He was now only Ted. Two days ago he had firmly told Harry that ‘Teddy’ and ‘Teddy Bear’ were “babyish”, breaking Harry’s heart a little bit. At the same time, he had asked for the nightlight to be removed for the same reason.

“Morning Harry!”

Teddy walked right up to the measuring chart and stood bolt upright against it. Harry sighed and waved his hand. The pen wrote the measurement on the chart.

“Four foot ten inches,” Harry murmured, noticing that the chart stopped at 5 foot. “We’ll have to get a bigger chart today, I think, Tedster.”

Teddy frowned slightly at Harry’s attempt at a new name, but didn’t say anything.

Harry glanced briefly at his groin, nervously looking for the first signs of puberty, the first signs that Teddy was no longer a child, but an adolescent. To his relief, his balls still hugged close to his body and his penis looked the same as it had since he was little.

“Will I get to start reading magic books now that I am 11, Harry?”

Harry’s heart jumped, and he grinned at Teddy. “You’ll need a wand first, won’t you?”

As Ted whooped enthusiastically, Harry’s grin turned into the first broad smile he had sported for over 5 days. This was, finally, something he had been looking forward to as he had contemplated Teddy growing up in the normal way. He had forgotten about it since his diagnosis.

 

Later that day, Teddy safely back in his room practicing with his new holly and unicorn hair wand (11 inches), Harry let himself enjoy the moment. He might never be able to see him off to Hogwarts, or hear what house he’d been sorted into, but going to buy him his wand had been almost exhilarating.

Harry sat by the bath as Teddy washed himself and told him about all the First Year magic he had read about that day. This had been the ritual for the last few days. Harry would sit and Teddy would regale him with everything he had learned.

As Teddy got out of the bath, Harry glanced at his groin. Was it his imagination, or were his balls hanging looser than they had in the morning? Had they grown? Harry shook his head and put it down to the warmth of the bath, not wanting to think of the alternative explanation that Teddy’s body was showing the first signs of puberty and that, soon, he would start losing all traces of the little boy he had once been. 

Before they sat down for dinner, Harry measured Teddy again. At around 7pm he would be 11 and a half.

“Four feet 11 inches, Ted,” he read as the pen marked itself on the new chart which now went well past 6 foot and had cleverly marked all the earlier height records on itself when Harry had put it up that afternoon.


	5. Chapter 5

Monday, 14 April 2003

When Teddy came down to the kitchen that morning, Harry’s heart sank. He had been able to brush it off last night as a result of the bath, but now the growth in Teddy’s balls was unmistakeable, as they hung at least a couple of centimetres below the end of his penis, which remained the same size as before.

“You’ve started puberty, Ted,” Harry told him, trying to hide the emotion he was feeling.

“Have I?” he exclaimed, looking down at his groin. “Have I really? How can you tell?”

“Remember when we had that talk about how your body is going to change?”

“Yeah.”

Harry had felt incredibly uncomfortable throughout the ‘birds and the bees’ chat, which he had forced himself to give Teddy three days ago. Teddy, on the other hand, had been fascinated and had peppered Harry with innumerable questions.

“Well, normally the first sign of puberty in boys is that their testicles start growing and I can see that yours have definitely grown.”

“Cool!” Teddy said, peering down and nudging his scrotum with his index finger. “Doesn’t that mean that my penis will start growing soon?”

“Yup, it sure does.”

“Hadn’t you better keep a record of that as well as my height?”

“Do you want me to?”

“Yes, please! Length and thickness!”

Teddy stood against the chart and Harry waved his hand up his body to get the measurement for his height. “Five foot and one half inch.” Harry noted that Teddy had grown two and a half inches in the last day, more than the normal two inches. Another sign that puberty was taking effect. Harry then took a ruler and gingerly placed Teddy’s soft penis against it. “6 centimetres.” He managed to find a tape measure and wrapped it around Teddy’s penis. “4 centimetres.”

Harry left for work for the first time since the diagnosis. Kreacher was able to look after Teddy, who spent his whole time devouring book after book in his bedroom, so Harry did not feel as though he was missing time with him.

He returned just before 7pm and Teddy bounded up to greet him. Wrapping him in an affectionate hug.

“I can’t wait to tell you what I’ve learned today!”

“Let’s measure you first and then you can tell me all about it.”

Harry looked at Teddy as he stood against the chart. His balls had grown significantly since the morning and now swung surprisingly heavily away from his body. If Harry wasn’t mistaken, his penis might also have lengthened slightly. He sighed inwardly. In the morning, Teddy would be a teenager.

“Five foot 1 and a half. 6.5cm in length and 4 cm in girth.”


	6. Chapter 6

Tuesday 15 April 2003

The first thing Harry noticed that morning was the unmistakeable signs of Teddy’s first pubic hairs. Wisps of the light brown hairs had grown overnight on either side of his penis, a penis which had lengthened again.

“Five foot three inches. 7.5cm in length and 4cm in girth.”

“I can ejaculate now too!” Teddy informed Harry, matter of factly. Harry almost spat out his coffee.

“Teddy!”

“Ted, not Teddy!”

“Ted, you can’t just tell people that.”

“But you said it is natural and nothing to be worried or ashamed about.”

“And it is natural, but it is also private.”

“OK,” Teddy shrugged, sitting down at the table and pouring himself a large bowl of cereal.

When Harry returned that evening, the voice Teddy greeted him with was husky. It hadn’t deepened, but had lost the high childish pitch.

The wisps of pubic hair had multiplied and the two patches on either side of his penis from the morning had now joined over the top of his penis.

“Five foot four and a half. Just over 8 cm in length and 4 cm in girth.”

During the course of dinner, as Teddy told him about his day of learning (he had decided that baths were for kids and girls and he preferred a shower now, which did not lend itself so easily to their chats) his voice had started squeaking at random moments. Rather than being embarrassed, as Harry remembered being when it had happened to him, Teddy had smiled proudly. “Soon I’ll have a man’s voice.”


	7. Chapter 7

Wednesday, 16 April

When Teddy ambled into the kitchen he greeted Harry with his ‘man’s voice’. It was deep and reminded Harry a little of Remus, which caused a pang of sorrow in his chest. Teddy still gave him his usual hug and Harry was pleased that – so far – he hadn’t lost his affectionate nature and love of hugs.

His balls seemed to have gone through another spurt in growth and now looked adult size, swinging low in their sack, which Harry noted now had a few curls of hair on it. His penis had lengthened noticeably overnight, but the biggest change was in thickness. The wisps of pubic hair had changed into a small bush of thicker, coarser hair just above his penis.

“Five foot 6 inches. Wow Teddy, you really are going to be as tall as me soon!”

Teddy grinned in pride.

“9cm in length and 9cm in girth.” Harry was amazed at how much it had grown and how well developed Teddy was at only 14. Harry was stunned that Teddy’s penis was thicker and almost as long as his own at such a young age. “That’s quite an impressive size you have for your age, Ted. The girls are going to love you.”

“Boys,” Teddy corrected. “I’m gay, like you Harry.”

Harry had given him a huge hug. It felt odd now that Teddy was only an inch shorter than him. He was the same height as Hermione and Ginny.

As they sat eating breakfast, Teddy yawned and stretched his arms above his head and Harry noticed a few wisps of light brown hair under each arm.

That day at work, everything seemed to go wrong. His main oven blew, a stock delivery was all wrong and then he had to redo the stock check. He hadn’t got home until after 10pm and Teddy was already in bed. As he passed the chart, he saw that Kreacher must have done the height measurement. Teddy was now an inch taller than Harry at 5 foot 8 inches.


	8. Chapter 8

Thursday, 17 April 2003

Harry’s mouth dropped as Teddy walked into the kitchen. He had shot up, his legs and arms long and, as he stretched his arms above his head to yawn, Harry saw that the few strands of hair from yesterday morning had grown into thick patches of dark brown hair under each arm, matching the large bush of pubic hair which now adorned his groin. Out of that bush hung a long, thick penis of well above average proportions.

Teddy wrapped Harry in his arms and Harry felt the pang of now being the shortest male in the house.

“I missed you yesterday, Harry. I really missed you a lot.”

Harry apologised to Teddy as he walked over to the chart, explaining what had happened as he waved his hand.

“Five foot 11 inches. Blimey, Ted! You’re getting to be a monster!”

For the first time, Harry felt self-conscious as he reached towards Teddy’s cock. That feeling grew when he felt his own cock twitch as he held its heavy length in his hand.

“Er. . . 12.5 cm in length and 12cm in girth.” He was now longer as well as thicker than Harry’s own soft penis and his balls looked larger too, his scrotum covered in wiry hairs and hanging a good couple of centimetres below the end of Teddy’s penis.

Harry stood up and couldn’t help but noticed that Teddy’s previously skinny frame was beginning to fill out. There was the start of a six pack on his stomach and the arms which had hugged him had gained some bulk. The warm smile he gave Harry also caused a twitch in his groin.

Harry felt uncomfortable and awkward as he sat across from his Godson at breakfast and Teddy excitedly told him all about the OWL-level books he planned to read that day.

I clearly need to have sex as soon as possible. That’s all this is. Sexual frustration.

He waited until Teddy had gone upstairs before telling Kreacher that he planned on going out that night and wouldn’t be back for supper. He felt guilty not telling Teddy, but had always been susceptible to his sad brown eyes when Teddy was upset.


	9. Chapter 9

Friday, 18 April 2003

Harry felt horribly hung over, his head pounding and an all-encompassing feeling of nausea hanging over him as he opened his eyes.

He started as he saw a pair of twinkling brown eyes staring back at him and then remembered the events of the evening before. He had gone straight from closing up the shop to a Muggle gay bar and had quickly got chatting to an attractive man at the bar. Jim was 21, tall, dark haired with warm hazel eyes and a killer smile. A couple of drinks had turned into a bite to eat, had turned into another few drinks and a club. Harry had let loose for the first time in years as he had danced with Jim. Jim had stripped off his t-shirt, showing off his slim but toned frame and hairless chest. Harry had followed suit and Jim had gone wild at the sight of Harry’s own muscular chest.

“I love a little hair on a man,” he had said, rubbing his hands through Harry’s relatively meagre offering. They had kissed, their chests rubbing together. Harry had instantly hardened and felt Jim’s hand wonder down to his groin. “Nice!” he had complimented.

They had quickly left and taken a taxi to Grimmauld Place. Harry had surreptitiously confunded him as the house appeared. They had snogged all the way up the stairs, occasionally knocking against the walls and the bannisters.

They had stripped off and fallen onto Harry’s bed. Even as they continued snogging, Harry found himself feeling a little disappointed in what the removal of Jim’s underwear had revealed. Jim had removed all the hair from his groin. The brief glimpse of Jim’s soft penis before it had hardened reminded Harry of Teddy’s penis a few days earlier, no more than 8 cm in length and only a couple of inches in girth. Jim wasn’t a grower either, his penis lengthened but Harry didn’t think it was much more than 12 cm in length and less than 10 in girth. He was snogging a hairless man-child and all he could think about was the man from his dreams, the strong powerful arms, the hairy muscular chest and stubbled chin, the feeling of his long, thick penis rubbing against Harry’s own. Jim had insisted that Harry top, and Harry had only managed to get through the experience by imagining the dream man. He had collapsed on the bed afterwards and given Jim as warm a kiss as he could muster before falling asleep.

“Hi,” Jim said.

“Hi,” Harry replied. “Look, I don’t want to sound like a dick, but my Godson lives with me and he’ll soon be getting up. He’s just a kid and I don’t want him to see a stranger in the house.”

The warmth from Jim’s eyes disappeared. He quickly got out of bed and started scrabbling around for his clothes, all whilst loudly insulting Harry for using him, for treating him like a ‘cum dump’ and making him feel like a whore.

Harry was shocked and then horrified as he noticed that the bedroom door was slightly ajar. Harry quickly found his boxer shorts and slipped on his dressing gown as he an irate Jim stormed out of the room.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you feel that way! I do have a Godson who lives with me, I swear!”

Jim’s tirade continued as he stomped down the stairs and was only cut off as the front door slammed behind him.

Harry groaned over his coffee a few minutes later, slumped at the kitchen table.

He looked up as Teddy walked in. A taller, broader Teddy who was, to Harry’s consternation wearing a dressing gown. Instead of his customary cheery grin, there was a frown on his face as he looked at Harry. A face which now sported the start of light stubble on his upper lip and sideburns. 

“Who was that?” he said, stopping on the other side of the table from Harry, rather than greeting him with a hug.

“Er. . . That was. . . um. . . a friend.”

“He didn’t sound very friendly.”

“He was a little angry.”

“Because you fucked him and then told him to leave.”

“Teddy!”

“It’s Ted! How many times do I have to tell you?!” Teddy’s voice rose and his face grew red and blotchy.

Harry was stunned. Teddy have never shouted at him. In fact, he’d never seen him angry, not even as a toddler. There had been no tantrums, just quiet acceptance when he was told he couldn’t do or have something.

“I’m sorry, Ted, I just keep forgetting. I just don’t want you to use that sort of language, ok?”

“Why not?! I’m not a kid, you know. I’m sixteen! And I have a right to be mad when you bring home some random stranger and screw him. I could hear you last night. It was. . . it was. . . disgusting!”

“Ted! That’s not fair. I’m sorry that I left the door open, I didn’t mean to, ok. You’ll understand when you’re a bit older that sometimes when you’re caught up in ‘things’ you get distracted.”

“I’m perfectly old enough to understand! Why do you keep talking to me like I’m a child?” As he spoke, his hair turned bright red. “I’m going to be of age soon.”

“I know, Ted. I wanted to talk to you about what you. . .”

“Don’t try and change the subject! How could you!” There were tears now, brimming in Teddy’s eyes. Harry’s heart stung as he saw how upset the young man was, but didn’t understand what had caused it.

“How could I do what?”

“Bring home some random guy! Is that what you’re going to do now, just bring home any guys you fancy? We were fine just the way we were!” Teddy’s hair turned from red to green.

“I. . . what? What do you mean?”

“You just think I’m a kid! I. . . I hate you!”

With that final proclamation, Teddy ran out of the kitchen and a few moments later Harry could hear his bedroom door slam.

“What the fuck?!” Harry muttered. He supposed that was Teddy’s first teenaged strop, but he still didn’t understand where it had come from. It was clearly about more than just being woken up by the sounds of Harry and Jim’s nocturnal activities.

Harry tried to knock on Teddy’s bedroom door before he left, but Teddy had locked it and was ignoring him. When he returned from work that evening, he saw that Teddy’s new heights from the evening before and this morning had been added to the chart. He was now just under 6ft 2 inches. Harry tried not to think about whether anything else had grown. He ate a lonely supper, Kreacher informing him that the ‘Young Master’ was eating in his room, and collapsed in misery on his bed.


	10. Chapter 10

Saturday, 19 April 2003

Harry waited nervously in the kitchen, a brightly wrapped and beribboned box lying on the kitchen table. His heart leapt as he heard footsteps on the stairs and, a moment later, Teddy peered into the kitchen with an anxious look on his face.

Harry had seen the measurement on the chart, but was still surprised by how tall Teddy now was as he walked apprehensively into the room. His shoulders had broadened significantly and his chest and stomach were far more developed, adding to the effect. A trail of dark brown curls led down from his belly-button to his bush of pubic hair, which had now spread to cover the entirety of his groin. Harry’s eyes widened as they continued their journey down from the thick brush of hair. Teddy’s penis was noticeably longer and thicker than when Harry had last seen it, two mornings ago and the tip now reached slightly beyond his large egg-sized balls, which swung slightly as Teddy moved nervously from foot to foot.

He looked sheepishly at Harry and then at the floor. Harry immediately strode over to him and hugged him tightly. After a moment of hesitation, Harry felt Teddy’s muscled arms wrap around him and heard him exhale and then start to sniffle. Harry rubbed his back and couldn’t help noticing how Teddy could now rest his nose on the top of his head as they embraced.

“I. . .I’m sorry, Harry,” Teddy said, his voice cracking with emotion. “I didn’t mean it.”

“I know you didn’t Ted,” Harry replied, continuing to rub his back and making shushing noises like he had done whenever Teddy had woken from a nightmare. His mind still boggled that less than two weeks ago he had had to crouch down to calm Teddy as a frightened boy and now Teddy towered over him and was built in such a way that Harry was sure he could have easily overpowered him had the young man wanted.

“We all say things in the heat of the moment which we don’t mean,” Harry continued, as Teddy finally stepped away and rubbed the tears from his face.

“Do you want to tell me what it was about?”

Teddy nodded. 

“I . . . I was jealous,” Teddy whispered.

Harry was confused for a moment until Teddy’s meaning came to him.

“Because it’s always been just the two of us and you felt like I was replacing you?”

Teddy nodded.

“Ted, you know that nobody could replace you in my heart,” Harry said. Teddy’s eyes lit up at his words. “You’ve been the most important thing in the world to me since you were born and nobody could ever change that. I know it’s difficult now that we are so much closer in age, but I want you to know that you can always come to me and speak to me as if I were. . . not your father, I guess, but as a friend.”

The light dimmed in Teddy’s eyes, but he nodded.

“Come on, enough of this, let’s have some breakfast!” Harry grinned at Teddy, who smiled tentatively at him.

Teddy then noticed the box on the table.

“What’s that?”

“I understand that someone is coming of age today. . .”

Teddy smiled broadly, the dimples showing in his cheeks, as he tore open the wrapping and removed the lid from the box to reveal the gold pocket watch.

He stared at it.

“Don’t you like it?”

“I . . . I love it!”

“Turn it over,” Harry told him.

Teddy turned the watch over. The inscription on the back read simply: Love always, Harry

Teddy grabbed Harry in a fierce hug. “I love you Harry!”

“I love you too, mate,” Harry replied. “But those muscles of yours are squeezing the life out of me!”

Teddy immediately released him and smiled self-consciously at him.

They ate breakfast and discussed what Teddy wanted to do that evening to celebrate. Teddy made it clear that he didn’t want any fuss and that supper with Harry would be the perfect evening for him. The confession had made Harry’s heart burst. Maybe he didn’t have to worry, yet, about Teddy moving out and no longer needing him.

As they cleared their plates they n remembered that Teddy still needed to be measured.

Harry stood in front of Teddy at the chart. “6 foot 3 and a ¼ inches. I can’t believe it!”

Teddy smiled in a slightly embarrassed fashion and then looked down at his groin.

Harry hesitated. Ignoring the way his heart had started hammering and the lurch of desire in his own groin, he knelt down and took Teddy’s penis in his hand. 

“16cm in length and 13.5cm in girth,” Harry whispered in slight awe. It was almost the same length and slightly thicker than his own erection. Harry tried not to think about how big it must get when aroused.

Harry stood up and realised how close he was now standing to Teddy, who was looking down at him. Harry noticed that there was now heavier stubble across Teddy’s upper lip, on his chin and his sideburns, though his cheeks were still unblemished. Harry looked up into Teddy’s eyes, which were now looking warmly at him, a slight smile ghosting over his face.

Harry froze. The warm hazel eyes and light dimples on the cheek were achingly familiar to him. He was looking at the man from his dream.

Harry staggered backwards in shock.

“Fuck!”

“Harry? What’s the matter?” Teddy asked, alarmed at the alteration in his Godfather.

“I. . . I. . . I’ve just remembered that I have to be at the shop early today. I’m already late. Sorry, I have to rush. I’ll be back for dinner this evening. Just tell Kreacher exactly what you want, ok?”

Without waiting for an answer, Harry raced from the room, out the front door and apparated to his shop.

He didn’t open that day, but instead spent it in various forms of anxious despair at the revelation. Matters became worse when he realised that it was not Teddy who was the cause of the magical puberty. It was Harry who had, after having the most intense wet dream of his life, fuelled by fire whisky and his own loneliness, stood over Teddy’s bed and whilst brushing his cheek had wished for the man in the dream to become real. He must have, unknowingly and entirely accidentally, lost control of his magic and the result was a now slightly younger version of the man who had seemed to Harry to represent everything that was missing in his life. Guilt tore him apart. He had robbed Teddy of a proper childhood, deprived him of countless experiences, not least of attending Hogwarts and making lifelong friends.

He knew he had to go back home that evening, much as he wanted to avoid Teddy. He couldn’t miss his birthday dinner. Though, from Teddy’s perspective he would already be 6 months older. Harry still didn’t understand how Teddy could realise that only half a day had passed, but at the same time feel the actual time which had passed for him.

Harry spent the evening in fake cheer, heartily toasting Teddy and trying not to bring up in his mind images of his Godson bringing him to orgasm.

Teddy occasionally looked askance at Harry’s increasingly awkward manner, but as he was drinking wine for the first time soon didn’t notice and they ended up laughing together on the sofa, a third bottle of wine freshly opened.

Teddy insisted that he wanted to watch a film. They started on opposite ends of the sofa, but after 15 minutes into the movie Harry jumped as Teddy moved position, lying with his legs tucked up and his head resting on Harry’s lap. This had been how Teddy had always lain when they watched the countless Disney films Harry had entertained him with. Out of habit, Harry began stroking the wavy curls of Teddy’s hair and heard him sigh contentedly. By the end of the film, the third bottle was empty. As the credits rolled, Harry stopped stroking Teddy.

“Don’t stop, please Harry!”

Harry looked down at him. Teddy’s eyes were closed and, for a moment, he could have been five years old again. Then the moment was gone and Harry’s eyes filled with tears. Before he could wipe them away, one fell and landed on Teddy’s cheek.

“Harry?” Teddy looked up and saw the tears now running down Harry’s face. “Harry, what’s wrong?” he asked, sitting up.

Harry immediately got up and began walking away from the sofa, but Teddy grabbed his arm and stopped him.

“Harry, talk to me!”

“It’s nothing, Ted. Just feeling a little emotional that you’re now all grown up.”

Teddy looked at him and grabbed hold of both his arms. 

“I know this has been difficult for you, Harry,” he said. “I know that you still think of me as your five year old Godson and that it must have been hard to watch me these last 12 days.

“The doctor’s said that you wouldn’t know any different, that you wouldn’t realise that what was happening was unusual.”

“I didn’t, to start off with. But a few days ago I realised that you weren’t aging at all. You looked exactly the same as I remembered you from my 5th birthday. And nobody else was aging either: Draco, Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione and Uncle Neville all look the same. So, I realised that it must be something to do with me. I researched it in the library.”

“God, Teddy, why didn’t you say anything?”

“I didn’t want you to be more upset than you are already.”

“Teddy, it’s not your job to look out for me! It’s supposed to be the other way around!”

“Harry, I’m not a kid anymore. I’m going to be 18 tomorrow. In just over 5 days I’ll be the same age as you if I keep aging! Don’t you think we can maybe look out for each other?”

“When did you get so wise?”

Teddy smiled and wrapped Harry in his arms in a comforting hug. Harry was surrounded by the warmth emanating from Teddy’s body and by the faint musk of his body odour. He could feel the biceps of Teddy’s arms pressing against his sides and the hardness of his pecs. Teddy’s chin rested on Harry’s head and Harry sighed contentedly. It was when Harry noticed that he could feel the soft length of Teddy’s penis against him that, to his horror, he could feel his own penis begin to thicken. He immediately began to pull away from Teddy, but Teddy grabbed him by the shoulders.

Teddy gazed into his eyes, moved his hands to cup his face, brushed is thumbs across the drying tears on his cheeks and leant down, lightly brushing Harry’s lips with his own.

Harry jumped back, as if electrocuted.

“What are you doing?!” he shouted.

The passionate look in Teddy’s eyes was replaced with one of horror.

“I. . .I thought that that was what you wanted.”

“No, Teddy! You’re my Godson, for Merlin’s sake! That was totally inappropriate. What were you thinking?!”

“I. . . I love you!” Teddy said, tears forming in his eyes.

“Teddy, you’re 17 years old and confused. You’ve had too much to drink and I shouldn’t have let that happen. You don’t know what you’re feeling.”

“Yes, I do!” Teddy shouted. “Stop treating me like a fucking child! I know what I feel and I know you feel it too. I’ve seen the way you’ve been looking at me and I felt you just now.”

“I’m going to bed, Teddy. I suggest you do too. I love you very much, but I cannot love you that way.”

As Harry walked away he heard Teddy starting to sob and it took all his willpower not to turn around and comfort him.


	11. Chapter 11

Monday, 21 April 2003

Harry woke for the second morning in a row at Malfoy Manor. For the second night in a row he had barely slept.

After the incident with Teddy, he had gone up to his room and paced the floor for several hours, his emotions all over the place.

He needed to speak to someone. Ron and Hermione were away for the weekend and this wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have with Molly or Arthur. The only person he could think of was Draco and in his turmoil he immediately apparated to Malfoy Manor, arriving just outside the gates, which let him in almost immediately.

He all but ran to the imposing front door and hammered on it. It was only then that he realised that it was nearly 3am.

Before he could turn around and leave, the door opened and a dishevelled Draco, his wand clutched tightly in his raised hand, peered out.

“Potter? What the hell is going on? Is Teddy ok?”

“Teddy’s fine, Teddy’s fine,” Harry said and then burst into tears. “Fuck, what have I done?!” he sobbed.

If Draco was perturbed by his emotional meltdown, he didn’t say anything. He took Harry by the arm and led him into the Manor, rubbing his back and asking the house elf waiting in the hallway to fetch a tumbler of firewhisky.

Harry was led into Draco’s study and placed into one of the armchairs set by the fireplace.

“Tell me what’s going on, Harry.”

“I can’t! It’s too awful. I’ve done a terrible thing.”

“Harry, I don’t believe it for a second. I’ve known you since we were 11 years old and been your friend for the last 4 or 5. I have never known you knowingly do a bad thing. Merlin, you walked willingly to your death to save us all! You’re honourable, loyal and too annoyingly good for your own good!”

“It’s my fault. I did it and now I’ve ruined his life, just because I was too selfish to be satisfied with what I had!”

“I take it that we’re talking about Teddy?”

Harry nodded.

“Potter, nothing you could have done can have been that terrible. It certainly won’t stack up against the shit I’ve done in my life,” Draco said, pulling up his sleeve and exposing the fading Dark Mark. “Just tell me what’s happened and we will find a way to fix it. You won’t get any judgment here.”

Harry looked down at the fire, which had burst into life at some stage in the last few minutes. He couldn’t bear to look at Draco as he began to explain from the very beginning. He started with his increasing feelings of loneliness and jealousy as his friends paired off. He then described the dream, though not in too much detail, and his visit to Teddy’s bedside. He explained the events of the last few days and his realisation that Teddy was the man in the dream and that he, Harry, had been the source of the surge of magical energy which had caused the magical puberty. He finished with the events of that evening.

Silence fell as Harry ended his tale of woe. The silence continued to the extent that Harry looked up from the fire to gauge Draco’s reaction. Draco was sitting with his right fist against his chin and his left hand cradling his tumbler of whisky.

“You think I’m disgusting, don’t you? I’ve betrayed Remus and Tonks. They entrusted me with Teddy and . . .”

“Shut up, Potter!” Draco snapped. “Quit the pity party!”

Harry did as he was told.

“If you’re right and you caused the magical puberty, and I accept that that seems likely, then it was clearly an accident. The clue is in the name: accidental magic. You didn’t mean for this to happen, any more than the parents and children in the other cases did.

As for ruining Teddy’s life, you’re talking nonsense! Yes, it would have been better had he had a normal childhood and had the chance to go to Hogwarts and make friends etc. But I’ve been to visit him every day since the diagnosis and I have seen how happy and loved he feels. He is smart, kind, loving and generous. Who knows how he would have turned out had he had a ‘normal’ life, but I doubt he could have turned out any better than he has.”

“As for him loving you more than a Godson ought to love a Godfather, that much has been clear to me for a couple of days.”

“What?! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It was not my business to tell you. I thought it might be a harmless teenaged infatuation to begin with. He talked endlessly about you. Then I could see that it was more than that. 

“But I can’t ever love him like that!”

“Why not?”

“He’s my Godson.”

“No, Harry, he is not. He was your five year old Godson, but that Teddy has gone. You can’t ever have him back. Pretty soon he’s going to be the same age as you. Who knows, he may age past you. You’ve got to stop thinking about him as your Godson and start trying to think of him differently.”

“What do you mean?”

“Only you know whether you could love him the way he wants you to. If you think you could then you need to start treating him like you would anyone else of his age. Try to be his friend and see how that works. Try your hardest to forget the old Teddy.”

 

That had been Draco’s advice just over 24 hours earlier. Harry had spent all of the day after either in his room or stalking around the Manor grounds.

“Are you going to go and speak to Teddy today,” Draco asked him after they had had breakfast.

“I don’t think I’m ready yet.”

“He’s miserable and scared. You need to talk to him.”

“Scared?”

“He’s scared he’s lost you.”

“He could never lose me. Whatever happens I will always be there for him.”

“You need to tell him that.”

“I will, but I need more time to think things over.”

Draco sighed. “Still stubborn as hell, Potter.”

“Can you tell him that I will be back soon. Tell him not to worry and that I am not angry or anything like that.”

“Sure.”

Harry left the Manor straight after breakfast and apparated to the first place he could think of, a small coastal village in Devon which he, Ron and Hermione had stayed in for a fortnight in the summer after the War. He checked into the same B&B and then went for a long walk.


	12. Chapter 12

Wednesday, 23 April 2003

Harry was nervous as his key unlocked the front door of 12 Grimmauld Place. The first thing he noticed was the smell of baking. He frowned to himself as Kreacher liked to do his baking in the afternoon.

There was the sound of a pan clattering to the floor.

“Fuck!” he heard a voice from the kitchen.

“Master Teddy isn’t listening to Kreacher. He is supposed to be being careful when he takes things out of the oven!”

Harry entered the kitchen to find Kreacher picking up a tray of freshly baked cookies from the floor. There were several elaborately iced cakes on the counter as well as a quiche and a fruit tart. Teddy had his back to the door, running cold water over one of his hands. He was topless, but wearing a pair of jeans. 

“Master Harry!” Kreacher exclaimed.

Teddy immediately whipped round, eyes wide and burnt hand forgotten. Harry couldn’t help but notice that his shoulders and chest had broadened further and the latter was now covered in light brown curls of hair. His face was dark with stubble. He now looked exactly like he had in Harry’s dream, except his hair was still boyishly short. In the days that Harry had been away, Teddy had lost the last traces of childhood and become a man.

“Hi,” Harry said.

Teddy raced over and grabbed Harry in a tight hug.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” he exclaimed, his voice breaking and sobs beginning to heave in his chest.

“Ted, stop! Please don’t cry. You have nothing to be sorry about!”

“I never meant to . . . I didn’t want to scare you away.”

“I know you didn’t, Ted. I shouldn’t have left like that. I behaved badly and it is me who should apologise.”

“You’re not mad at me?”

“Of course not! Come on, let’s go to the living room and talk.”

Teddy followed him and sat down on the sofa next to him.

“I’ve done a lot of thinking over the last few days. I needed that time, but I should have done it hear and talked with you at the same time.”

“I won’t kiss you again. I swear! Please don’t leave again or make me leave!”

“Ted, stop! I would never make you leave. This is your home and you can stay here for as long as you want. And I promise I won’t leave again like that.”

The wild panic in Ted’s face calmed at Harry’s words.

“I need to explain what I have been feeling.”

Harry repeated everything he had told Draco, including his suspicion that he had caused Teddy’s magical puberty.

“I’m so sorry Ted. I failed you and I robbed you of your childhood. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive myself.”

Teddy was silent for a few moments.

“Don’t be sorry.”

“What?”

“Please don’t be sorry. I couldn’t bear it if you let yourself be miserable for something that was an accident.”

“It may have been an accident but it came from selfishness.”

“It’s not selfish to want someone to love, Harry. I’ve read about what you did in the War, you know. There were a few things in the books which aren’t properly explained and didn’t make sense. Like why you walked into the Forbidden Forest and why Voldemort thought you were dead. I could tell that the whole truth wasn’t in the books, so I asked Hermione and she filled in the gaps. I know about the horcruxes and I know that you walked to the Forbidden Forest knowing that you had to let Voldemort kill you. You didn’t know that you’d be able to come back. You thought you were going to die and you willingly went to that death. You did it to save us, to save the ones you loved and to save countless others you didn’t even know. You saved us with the power of your love, just like your mother saved you with the power of her love. It’s not selfish to want someone to love you like that in return.”

“Hermione shouldn’t have told you that,” Harry said, with a sigh.

“Why? Because I’m too young to hear it?” Teddy asked, a glint of fire in his eyes.

“No, Ted. Because it is not something I have ever wanted people to know about. I did what had to be done and I don’t want praise for it. It’s been difficult enough as it is to live normally with people knowing the bare minimum. It would be impossible to do so if they knew the whole truth. I’m not the hero everyone thinks I am and I hate being treated like one.”

Teddy smiled at him. “You’re unbelievable, you know?” The look of love that radiated from his eyes, made Harry uncomfortable.

“Since Saturday, I’ve done a lot of thinking. I’ve talked with Draco as well,” he said, thinking it best to move the conversation along

Teddy began to look anxious.

“I think we should try to be friends,” Harry said.

Harry didn’t miss the look of disappointment which flashed across Teddy’s face as he looked down at his lap and gnawed on his lower lip.

Harry put his index finger under Teddy’s chin and lifted it so that he could look into Teddy’s eyes. There were tears in them.

“We don’t have any chance of being more than friends until we’ve tried being friends first. I need to get to know you as a friend so that I can try to no longer think of you as my Godson.”

A look of excited hope filled Teddy’s eyes as he heard Harry’s words.

“You mean there is a chance of us being more than friends?”

“I don’t know. I’m not saying never, that’s all I can offer at the moment.”

“That’s good enough for me!” Teddy smiled, and grabbed Harry in another hug. “Friends hug, right?”

Harry laughed. “Yeah, friends hug.”

“Do you want to tell me what all the baking in the kitchen is about?” he asked, as they separated.

“I finished my NEWT books days ago and read most of the books in the library too, so I needed something to do. I decided I wanted to learn to bake.”

“Why baking?”

Teddy blushed. “Because you’re always so happy when you bake and I wanted to . . . I wanted to learn to do what you love. If you ever came back, I was going to ask if I could come work for you.”

Harry smiled. 

“In that case, I’d better see if you’re up to scratch, hadn’t I?”

Teddy grinned as he followed him into the kitchen.

As Harry passed the height chart he saw that the last recording, from when Teddy was 19 read 6 foot 4 inches.


	13. Chapter 13

Saturday, 24 May 2003

It had been a month since Teddy had started working at the patisserie and his apprenticeship was going well. There had been a few early disasters, the temperamental oven and Teddy’s distraction leading to three burnt trays of madeleines. Teddy had been excessively devastated over it and Harry had found it amusing how much the dejected pout on his face was reminiscent of the same expression on the face of the four year old Teddy who had broken his favourite toy.

Teddy’s magical puberty had stopped on the day Harry had returned home. He was 21. Much to Harry’s relief. He wasn’t sure how he would have handled it if Teddy had grown older than him. He had asked Teddy why he thought it had stopped then and Teddy had told him that he thought it might have been because that’s when he had reached his full development. His chest hair had grown in properly, over the course of the 24 hours preceding his 21st birthday, marking the end of his maturation from boy to man.

Yesterday had been a big day. Harry had decided to leave Teddy in charge from opening to closing. Teddy had panicked at the suggestion when Harry had first raised it earlier in the week.

“You can’t do that Harry!”

“Why not?”

“I. . .I’m not ready!”

“Well, I think you are,” Harry had replied. “You’re a natural with the baking and a natural with the customers.”

“I’m not a natural! What about those madeleines I burnt? And the macaroons which were all wrong?”

“Ted, if you mention the madeleines again, I am going to shove one of the baking trays up your arse!”

Teddy giggled. He was still getting used to Harry swearing in front of him, something Harry had decided he needed to do as often as he did with his other friends. Harry had yet to hear Teddy swear, but was hopeful that the frequency of his expletives would soon rub off on him. He was contemplating throwing a party when Teddy finally managed to overcome whatever barrier was holding him back from letting rip with an obscenity.

“You’ve been working with me for a month. You’ve made every single thing in our range four or five times over and you are more than familiar with the ropes. You can do this, I promise!”

“I don’t know, Harry,” Teddy had replied, nervously gnawing on his bottom lip.

“Do you remember when I was teaching you to right your bicycle?”

Teddy nodded. He had been a very confident rider of the bicycle Harry had bought him for his fourth birthday, albeit with the training wheels attached. Harry had decided to see whether he could ride without the training wheels before he turned five. 

“We had almost the same conversation now as we are having now. You were adamant that you weren’t ready and you were so scared. I can only tell you now what I told you then: You are ready. I have 100% confidence in you. I might not be running alongside you, like I did when you took those pedals on your bike, but you can call me any time you need to, ok?”

Teddy had nodded, the uncertainty still showing in his eyes. That uncertainty had still been there when Harry had given him a goodbye hug that morning.

Harry had spent the day vaguely gardening, before lounging in the sun on the grass at Grimmauld Place. It had been lovely to kick back on a weekday and not to have to worry about cake mixes, ovens and customers. His mobile had remained silent throughout the day.

When Teddy had got back that evening, he had looked frazzled. Harry had burst out laughing at the sight of him.

“What’s so funny?”

“You look like you’ve done 15 rounds with all of the contents of the patisserie!”

“Fucking hilarious,” Teddy had replied, his eyes widening at his own words and a blush creeping over his face.

“Merlin! I’ve been waiting for you to swear for weeks!”

Teddy had rolled his eyes.

“I was beginning to think you were some form of puritan!”

“Shut up!” Teddy’s had blush deepened and Harry had chuckled.

“Why don’t you go and clean up and then we can eat to celebrate. I’ll have a bottle of cold beer ready for you when you come down.

“That sounds fucking fantastic!” Teddy had replied, giving Harry a cheeky grin before turning and leaving the kitchen.

Harry had cooked Teddy’s favourite: Spaghetti Bolognese with homemade garlic bread and a banana split with chocolate and strawberry ice-cream for pudding. They had had a beer before sitting down and then nearly two bottles of red, chatting about Teddy’s day with Teddy making Harry laugh at his account of the various (minor) mishaps which had occurred during the day. Afterwards, they had sat in the living room and Teddy had tried firewhisky for the first time, spluttering and coughing at his first taste.

“I told you to sip, not glug!” Harry had laughed.

“It’s horrible!” Teddy had said, though he insisted on finishing the glass.

By the time he had done so, he was unmistakeably drunk.

“I feel. . . weird!” he had said, waving a hand in front of his face. “There’sh two of ev’rythin, and I feel all floppy!”

“That’s because you’re drunk, Ted.”

“Nuh-uh,” Teddy had replied, shaking his head. “I think I must be ill!”

“Nope, you’re definitely drunk, though I am pretty sure you’ll be ill tomorrow.”

Teddy had looked quizzically at him. “Are you a seer? How d’you know I’m going to be ill tomorrow?”

“Just a hunch,” Harry had replied, trying not to smile.

Harry had had to half carry up the stairs to his bedroom, where he had stripped off his top and jeans, trying desperately not to get aroused by the sight of Teddy’s muscled stomach and chest and the large package jutting from his boxer briefs.

It was now past 9am and there had still be no sight of Teddy. Harry had already decided not to open the patisserie that day, despite sunny Saturdays being one of the best days for business. Teddy deserved a lie-in and Harry felt like extending his relaxation a further day. He would open tomorrow, usually his day off, to make up for it.

Harry decided to see what kind of state Teddy was in and went upstairs. There was no reply to his knock and so Harry gently opened the door. The odour of stale booze made his nose wrinkle, but he smiled at the sight on the bed. Teddy was face down in the bed with a small amount of drool gathered on the pillow.

Harry grinned wickedly to himself as he decided to teach Teddy the consequences of drinking to excess.

“Morning, Ted!” he shouted, as he waved the curtains open. Bright sunshine streamed into the room and Teddy immediately sat bolt upright.

“What the fuck?” he screamed, looking wildly around and grabbing for his wand. As he caught sight of Harry and stopped waving his wand, he clutched his head.

“Oh Merlin, my head!” he groaned.

“Oh dear, what’s the matter?” Harry asked innocently.

“I feel awful!” Ted moaned. “I think I’m gonna be. . .” A look of extreme nausea swept across his face and Harry had to react quickly in transfiguring one of the pillows on the floor by Teddy’s bed into a bucket, which he put under Teddy’s mouth just as a stream of vomit poured from it.

Teddy heaved several times, before collapsing back on his pillows, an arm flung across his eyes.

“Feel better?”

“No. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I was fine yesterday.”

Teddy then sat bolt upright again.

“You said that I would be ill today! How did you know?!”

Harry laughed.

“I’m not a new Trelawney, Ted. I knew because you are not ill. You are hung over as a result of drinking too much last night.”

“Hung over?”

“Yes. I did warn you not to finish the firewhisky.”

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Edward,” Harry replied primly. “Why would I enjoy another human being suffering?” Harry tutted and shook his head.

“If I didn’t think I’d throw up again, I’d get up and punch you!”

“Now, now Ted, there really is no need to resort to threats of violence. Do you not want me to look after you in your pain?”

“Only if you promise to cut out the smugness.”

Harry laughed.

“You need water, a bacon sarnie and to stay lounging in bed for the next few hours.”

“Isn’t there a potion I can take?” 

“No,” Harry lied. Teddy needed to suffer for a bit. Harry would give him the hangover potion at lunch time.

Teddy was able to finish off the bacon sarnie Harry made for him without it immediately coming back up again and spent the rest of the morning groaning in bed. Harry took pity on him at just before 1pm.

“Drink this,” he instructed and handed Teddy a flask.

“What is it?”

“Just drink it. It should make you feel a bit better,” Harry said, knowing full well that it would make Teddy 100%.

The effect was instantaneous. Teddy’s eyes immediately brightened and the sickly pallor of his cheeks and forehead disappeared.

“What was that? I feel great!”

“Oh, just a hangover potion,” Harry replied.

Teddy looked at Harry with a puzzled expression.

“You bastard!” he cried, leaping out of the bed so quickly that he caught Harry unawares. He grabbed Harry, who was laughing hysterically, and they started to wrestle. With his height and weight advantage, Teddy soon had the upper hand and lay on top of Harry, keeping his hands stretched above his head and his legs pinned beneath his knees.

“You knew all that time and you let me suffer?!”

“I think you’ve learned an important lesson, Ted, don’t you?” Harry smirked.

“I’ll get you back, you know. I don’t know how, but I will,” he vowed.

Harry smiled and then became more conscious of the position they were currently in, especially as Ted gazed into his eyes with an unreadable expression.

“Now that you're fit to face the world, don’t you think you’d better have a shower?”

Teddy continued staring down at him.

“Ted?”

“Yes, sorry, yes, I’ll have a shower!” he said, leaping up from Harry and grabbing his towel on the way out of the bedroom.

Harry lay on the floor a moment longer as the feeling of Teddy’s weight pressing down on him slowly faded.


	14. Chapter 14

Monday, 23 June 2003

Harry really hadn’t been lying when he had told Teddy that he was natural when it came to baking. There had been no more mishaps in the past month and they worked together smoothly and Teddy had even gained the confidence to make suggestions for expanding the business. They now ran a range of ‘savoury’ offerings as well as sweets. After Harry had tasted Teddy’s first quiche he hadn’t need much persuasion. Teddy had also persuaded Harry to start an owl order delivery service and a party catering side line. Both were about to launch and the expected expansion in orders was the reason for this morning’s interview. They needed another pair of hands to help out and Teddy had suggested they take on someone fresh out of Hogwarts.

“Are you sure it was a good idea to keep my name out of the advertisement?” Harry asked.

Teddy sighed and rolled his eyes. “Harry, just what do you think would’ve happened had your name been anywhere near the advertisement?”

Harry shrugged, though he knew full well the madness that would have ensued.

Teddy raised an eyebrow at him.

“Fine, yes, you’re right. We would have had every Tom, Dick, Harry, Tina, Denise and Harriet apply for the job.”

“As it is, we only had three applications and you didn’t like either of the first two.”

“You didn’t like either of them either!”

“The second one wasn’t that bad.”

“Liar! She wouldn’t stop talking. I contemplated sending a muffliato her way just so I could get a word in to ask a question!”

“It could’ve just been nerves.”

“McGonagall mentioning in her reference that ‘she is a confident speaker but perhaps needs to learn to listen to others’ would suggest otherwise.”

Teddy laughed. “Fine, you are right, she was no good.”

They had agreed in advance how the interview process would work. Teddy would greet the interviewee and chat with them for a little while over a cup of tea before Harry arrived.

It turned today that that method had both its advantageous and disadvantageous.

Harry could heard Teddy’s muffled voice through the office door asking a question and the enthusiastic reply given by the sole remaining candidate for the job who he had been chatting to for nearly 15 minutes. 18 year old Zac Forster was a muggle-born wizard who had just graduated from Hogwarts. In fact, as Harry thought about it, term must only have ended last week. Memories of the train down flashed across his memory as he opened the door.

“Here’s the boss now,” Teddy announced as Harry entered.

There was almost immediately a sound of shattering china. Harry looked down to find his favourite ‘Gryffindor Forever’ mug in several pieces on the floor along with the remnants of the tea it had held.

The person who had dropped it was standing with his mouth open and his eyes bulging, his face as white as a sheet. He was only an inch or so taller than Harry, with medium brown hair and blue eyes which stared unblinkingly at Harry.

Harry waved his hand and the mug repaired itself and flew back onto the coffee table in the middle of the room.

“Hi, I’m Harry,” he said, extending his hand towards Zac.

“Harry Potter!” Zac squeaked in return.

“Yes, that’s right!” Harry replied cheerfully. It had been a while since someone had reacted quite this badly to meeting him, but he was sufficiently used to it now to know how best to deal with it. The fact that Zac had failed to notice his extended hand would be brushed off and Harry quickly withdrew it and ran his hand through his hair. Zac emitted a noise not unlike a mini squeal.

“So, Zac, you must have almost literally just got off the train from graduating at Hogwarts?”

Zac nodded dumbly in response, still staring unnervingly at Harry with mouth agape. Harry could feel tremors of supressed laughter coming from Teddy. He elbowed him in his side and smiled at Zac.

“It says here you got an ‘O’ in your Potions NEWT.”

Again, Zac nodded dumbly, although his mouth was now at least closed.

“That’s excellent. Baking is not unlike Potions. It requires precision and care. You can’t rush things and you have to follow the recipe exactly, though the worst that can happen is that you have an unrisen cake or a burnt madeleine, rather than an exploded cauldron!”

Zac didn’t react to Harry’s attempt at humour, his eyes still staring, though Teddy mock glared at him for his reference to burnt madeleines.

“Did you bring an example of your baking?” Harry asked.

Zac nodded and mutely handed Harry a Tupperware inside of which were 8 mini fruit tarts.

“Wow! If these taste as good as they look, I think you can consider yourself hired!” Teddy exclaimed, as Harry examined the bottoms of each pasty case.

“They do look amazing, Zac. Not a soggy bottom in sight and all very uniform.”

Harry took a bite from one of the tarts and smiled to himself at the taste of the buttery, crumbly pastry and sweet crème pâtissière and fruit.

Teddy groaned with pleasure next to him.

Harry finished his mouthful and flashed Zac a beaming smile. 

“Zac, those were truly brilliant!”

Zac blushed. “Th. . . thanks, M. . . M. . . Mr P. . .Potter!”

Harry exchanged glances with Teddy, who gave him a nod.

“It’s Harry please, or Boss if you like?”

“B. . . Boss?” Zac said.

“Yes, that is if you’d like to work here with us? We’d be delighted for you to start as soon as possible.”

Zac started to breathe rapidly.

“Merlin!” he just about managed to get out.

Teddy had laughed for most of the evening when Zac had finally left after recovering from his panic attack. Harry had recalled something he’d seen on TV and had got Zac to breathe into a paper bag until his heart rate had lowered and his breathing was back to normal.


	15. Chapter 15

Wednesday, 30 July 2003

It had been a little over three months since Teddy had started working with Harry in his patisserie. Three of the happiest months of Harry’s life, if he ever stopped to think about it.  
Teddy had only gained in confidence as he grew used to being and being treated as a man. Although in character he was still very much ‘Teddy’ – cheerful, filled with affectionate warmth, kind, playful and open – these characteristics had somehow been rounded off with his physical maturity. He was no longer a boy and very definitely a man. 

A fucking hot man, Harry thought to himself as he watched Teddy move around the kitchen in the patisserie. Despite being so tall and ‘built’, he moved with a grace which mesmerised Harry. As Harry continued watching, Teddy bent over to take something out of the oven. His jeans stretched over his arse and Harry felt his cheeks glow. He hadn’t seen Teddy naked below the waist since the day of his coming of age. Having gloried in being naked as a child and throughout the magical puberty, Teddy had decided that he ought not to walk around naked now he was an adult, at least not in Harry’s sight.

“Friends don’t walk naked around the house,” he’d explained to Harry.

He had let his hair grow out and it was now almost shoulder length, falling in tousled curls when it wasn’t tied up like it was now. Harry had teased him about his ‘man bun’, but secretly loved the longer hair, not least because it was the hair he remembered from his dream.

Teddy removed a tray of perfectly baked mini quiches from the oven and smiled proudly to himself. The savoury menu was now equally as popular as the sweet menu and the owl order delivery service and party catering side line were booming. Teddy had continued to grin at Harry at the wide-eyed awe with which Zac had looked at Harry for the first few weeks. He could still barely look at Harry in the eyes and stammered when he spoke to him, but Teddy had taken him under his wing and was slowly teaching him that Harry wasn’t a god. Business was so good, they were contemplating opening a second venue in Hogsmeade and Harry was also looking into taking over the trolley service on the Hogwarts Express.

Teddy was also a natural with the customers. Flirting with the middle-aged and elderly women who were their primary customers, bantering with everyone else in his unaffected, cheerful manner. Always a twinkle in his kind brown eyes and a warm smile on his lips. Everyone loved him and Harry knew that he now did too and not in a godfatherly way.

Outside of work, they had settled into an easy pattern. Most nights were spent at home, reading and watching TV with a glass of wine and supper on their laps. After a little initial awkwardness, Teddy had slipped into friendships with all of Harry’s circle and spent every Sunday with Draco. He had even managed to make himself new friends, one of whom now entered the shop.

“Hi Harry!”

“Hi Dennis,” Harry greeted the blond-haired man. He still felt a residual guilt every time he saw Dennis Creevey, remembering the lifeless body of his older brother lying in the Great Hall. The brother who shouldn’t have been there, but who had worshipped Harry in a similar way to Zac and who had no doubt slipped back into the battle because of that hero worship.

“Den!” Teddy crowed, striding out of the kitchen and wrapping the smaller man in a half hug.

Harry saw Dennis’ eyes close and a blush of pleasure warm his cheeks. There was no doubt that Dennis Creevey had a massive crush on the oblivious Teddy and Harry felt himself grow a little jealous.

Harry continued watching as Teddy excitedly showed Dennis his newest flavoured creations and they bantered back and forth as Dennis tried to nick one and Teddy slapped his hand. Despite being an adult, Teddy hadn’t lost the excitable nature and joyful presence he had had as a boy. Harry had noticed that when he thought of the young Teddy it was no longer with a pang for what he had lost. It was almost as if he was thinking of a different person. There was Teddy the boy whose nappy he’d changed and to whom he had read bedtime stories and Teddy the man with whom he lived and worked, who gave him an affectionate hug in the morning and whose feet rested in his lap as they read together on the sofa in the evenings.

They had become friends. It had been as much about Harry forgetting the little boy that Teddy had once been as it had been about Teddy forgetting the adult Godfather and father figure Harry had been. Teddy had initially struggled to lose an instinctive deference towards Harry, but now was able gently to mock and tease him and Harry mocked and teased him in return. They had started going for morning runs together after Teddy had joked that Harry’s stomach was beginning to show evidence of the fact that he ran a patisserie. They spent almost every single waking hour together, though Harry expected that would lessen as Teddy got more involved with his new circle of friends.

From that friendship had grown a deeper feeling. Harry could feel it every time Teddy gave him his morning hug, each time Teddy flashed a grin or winked conspiratorially at him. All of those and many more examples of Teddy being Teddy provoked a warm feeling that spread through Harry and made his heart beat a little faster. He was fairly sure that, somewhere along the line, he had fallen in love with Teddy. As for the feeling that spread through him when Teddy walked around in the mornings in just his low-slung pyjama bottoms, the ‘v’ at the bottom of his abs showing, well Harry had had to take care of himself more than a few times in the shower. 

“I’m going to take my break now Harry,” Teddy announced.

“OK,” Harry replied. “Why don’t you take the rest of the day? Zac and I can hold the fort here.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Go and spend some time with Dennis.”

Teddy beamed at Harry and threw his arm over Dennis’ shoulder as they left the building.

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly and Harry and Zac were rushed off their feet after an unexpected influx of customers and numerous owl-order deliveries. Harry was exhausted by the time he got home and was glad that there were leftovers in the fridge to reheat. He had insisted – after a little bullying by Hermione – that Kreacher should be retired. The old house elf had kicked up a huge storm at the very suggestion and not even Harry’s assurance that he could continue living at Grimmauld Place would placate him. Eventually, they had come to a compromise. Kreacher only worked 4 days a week and Tuesdays were one of his days off.

Harry had decided that he would tell Teddy how he felt that evening. He could no longer deny that he had fallen in love with Teddy. 

“Teddy?” Harry called out as he walked down the hallway. There was no answer.

When he walked into the kitchen he saw a note from Teddy on the table. 

Harry

Den and I have decided to have a boy’s night out. We’d invite you along, but we don’t want an old man cramping our style! ;-)

We shouldn’t be too late and, don’t worry, I’ll be in a fit state to work tomorrow so you won’t have to postpone your trip to Hogsmeade.

Thanks for giving me the afternoon off, you’re the best boss IN. THE. WORLD!

Love

Ted xx

Harry smiled at the crack about his age. He was less than 18 months older than Teddy and Dennis was a year or so younger than Teddy. Then he frowned to himself. He had planned to tell Teddy that evening about his feelings. He was hoping that they could tell everyone tomorrow. It was his birthday. Then the frowned deepened. Come to think of it, nobody had mentioned any plans for his birthday. Every year since the War there’d been a party at The Burrow, with Molly laying on her usual magnificent spread and the party ending in the early hours with a bonfire and dancing in the garden. Harry had been so caught up with work and the rapid expansion of the business that he hadn’t even noticed the lack of anyone mentioning any plans to him. 

Then he smiled to himself. Maybe it would be just him and Teddy. That would be perfect! He could announce his feelings to him over a home-cooked meal and a bottle of wine. He wouldn’t have the chance to speak to him much tomorrow as he was due to look around several potential sites for a second branch of the patisserie in Hogsmeade and had plans to meet Ron for lunch as Ron was managing the Hogsmeade branch of Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes. 

Harry reheated the leftovers in the fridge and ate them on the sofa with a glass of wine whilst watching trash on TV. He then decided to try to wait up for Teddy and read on the sofa for a while. Occasionally, he would find his hand instinctively reach out to rub Teddy’s feet, so used to them being there beside them.

Harry woke with a start. It was just before midnight and he had fallen asleep on the sofa. He decided he needed to head to bed, disappointed that Teddy hadn’t yet returned. I’ll kill him if he stays out too late and is in a pitiful state tomorrow!

He had just returned to his bedroom from the bathroom when he heard the front door slam shut. He was about to go downstairs to greet Teddy, when he was frozen in his tracks by the sound of someone shushing, followed by giggles.

He turned off his bedroom light, but kept the door slightly ajar and peered through.

“Shhhh! I don’ wanna wake Harry!” he heard Teddy slur.

“Sorry!” Dennis replied, giggling! “You’re really tall, Ted!”

“I know, Den! I’m the tallest person I know!”

“I’m not sure I can support you up the stairs.”

“Waddya talking about! I’m supporting you!”

“No, you’re not!”

“Am too!”

“Are not!”

There then followed hysterical giggles and the less than quiet sound of the two drunks ascending the stairs.

Harry watched in silence, his heart sinking as they staggered to the landing and – more or less supporting each other – wobbled towards Teddy’s bedroom door.

“I love you, man!” Dennis said, grinning goofily at Teddy.

“I love you too, Den!”


	16. Chapter 16

Thursday, 31 July 2003

Harry woke up in a foul mood.

For one, brief moment he thought he had found the happiness which had eluded him since the War; hell, since the day his parents had died nearly 22 years ago. True, in that time he had had moments of joy: his 11th birthday and the discovery of his magical heritage, making his first friends in Hagrid and then Ron and Hermione, the first sight he had caught of Hogwarts in the moonlight from the boat over the Great Lake, being sorted into Gryffindor, the first time he had flown and his first Quidditch victory, winning the House Cup for Gryffindor at the end of First Year and the Quidditch Cup in Third Year, the brief moment he had thought he could live with Sirius before it had all gone wrong, the night Remus had asked him to be Teddy’s godfather and the first time he had held his godson in his arms. 

There had been other moments where he had experienced brief happiness, but they were all tinged with the pain of the surrounding madness into which his life had spiralled during his adolescence and in the aftermath of the War. Even at the moment of victory against Voldemort, as his surviving friends and family engulfed him, he had not been able to share their glee. At that moment, the overwhelming feeling had been one of utter exhaustion, followed by crushing grief and then emptiness. Since the War there had been joyful moments with engagements, weddings and the first births of the next generation, but behind that outward feeling had always lurked the sadness that he had not been able to find his own partner, that the celebration was not of his engagement or wedding or the birth of his child.

All he had ever wanted was a family. He knew that the Weasleys considered him as much a member of their family as their own flesh and blood, and most of the time he felt the same, but he was desperate to create his own blood family with a soul mate. Dating had been a disaster since the War. He was ‘Harry Potter’ to everyone in the Wizarding World and he had never been able to find anyone who was able to move past that, who wasn’t either on the date because they simply wanted to be able to say that they had been on a date with The Boy Who Lived (Twice), or who had bolted at the first sign of the madness that went with dating someone with whom the press were obsessed and who could barely go out in public without attracting a mob of admirers. The first few weeks (months, really) after he had opened the patisserie had been chaos until, in a moment of anguished frustration Harry’s magic had (very gently) expelled every fawning fanboy and fangirl from the shop and barred them from entry. That had been accompanied by a few dozen shattered plates and the front windows of the shop exploding (with the glass somehow avoiding every single person on Diagon Alley). People had soon thereafter got the message that he would not: give autographs, pose for photos, ever talk about the War or tolerate any obsequious gratitude.

His acceptance that he had fallen in love with Teddy had caused his heart to soar in the first moment of pure, unadulterated contentment he had felt in years. The sight of Teddy and Dennis declaring their love for each other and closing Teddy’s bedroom door behind them had felt worse than any pain he had felt in a long time. He had spent most of the night tossing and turning in bed, sinking deeper and deeper into a depression.

I’m never meant to be happy. That’s for other people. Teddy will want to move out soon and I’ll be alone for the rest of my life. I’m too fucked up to deserve anyone. 

He had eventually fallen into a troubled sleep for a few hours. 

He glared moodily at himself in the mirror as he brushed his teeth. Stupid fucking hair! Why can’t it just be tidy? I’m sick of looking like a mad potioneer!

He tried not to stomp down the stairs. He didn’t want to wake Teddy and Dennis. The last thing he needed was to be confronted by newly loved up lovebirds first thing in the morning. That would be the worst birthday present ever.

To his surprise, Teddy was already in the kitchen munching on a slice of toast.

“Morning Harry!” he grinned, getting up and enveloping him in his usual morning hug. Harry brushed him off abruptly and felt a flicker of guilt as Teddy’s warm smile faltered.

“Is everything ok?” he asked.

“Everything’s fine,” Harry replied.

“Ok,” Teddy replied, unconvinced given the monotone of Harry’s voice.

“We didn’t wake you last night, did we?”

“No. I was just going to bed.”

“Ok. Um. . . Den’s still in bed.”

“Great,” Harry replied. Exhausted from the marathon of sex you indulged in last night. Perfect. Fucking perfect! The mug he had picked up shattered in his hand.

“Fuck!” Harry cried out as he watched the blood drip from the cut on his palm.

“Harry!” Teddy immediately grabbed his injured hand.

“Get off! Don’t touch it!” Harry shouted, grabbing his hand away. He waved his uninjured hand and snatched the bottle of dittany which flew from one of the cupboards. He let a couple of drops fall onto the cut and watched the wound heal, before placing his hand under the tap and washing away the blood.

“What happened?” Teddy asked.

“I must have. . . I dunno,” Harry replied, realising he couldn’t come up with a plausible explanation and knowing that ‘My accidental magic surged when I thought of you and Dennis screwing last night because I’m jealous and bitter’ wouldn’t be appropriate.

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

“I’m fine, Ted!” Harry snapped.

“Ok! I’m sorry,” Teddy held up his hands in surrender.

Harry waved his hand and repaired the mug, pouring coffee from the pot which Teddy had prepared before sitting down at the kitchen table. Teddy returned nervously to his chair and sat nibbling on his toast, whilst staring at his plate.

They breakfasted in silence. As Harry finished his toast he could see Teddy looking at him apprehensively and psyching himself up to say something, before stopping and remaining silent. This happened several times before Harry sighed heavily.

“What, Ted?”

“What?”

“You’ve clearly wanted to say something to me. Say it.”

“I. . . I. . . I just wanted to know if you planned on coming back to the shop this afternoon after you lunch with Ron.”

Harry had planned on doing so, but now he couldn’t bear the thought of working beside Teddy in the afternoon.

“I don’t think I will, actually.”

“Ok.”

“You’re going to have to get used to running the place without me.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Well, if we open a branch in Hogsmeade I’ll be running it and you’ll stay at Diagon Alley,” Harry replied. He knew that he was letting his emotions control him and making things up as he went along, but he was passed caring.

“But. . . But.”

“But what?”

“But I thought we were going to hire someone new and experienced for Hogsmeade and carry on working together in Diagon Alley?”

“Well, I’ve changed my mind. I am the boss. It’s my name behind the shop and I don’t want a stranger running the new branch, if that’s quite alright with you?”

“Of course! I just. . .”

“I’m going to leave for Hogsmeade now. I’ve got some errands to run before the appointment with the estate agent,” Harry cut Teddy off.

As he turned away from the table he could see tears in Teddy’s eyes. He wanted desperately to comfort him, but knew that he had to be brutal and make the break, if only for his own sanity.

“I’ll be back this evening. Bye, Ted.”

The only response he received as he strode out of the kitchen was a sniff.

 

“Are you sure you’re alright, mate?” Ron asked for the third time.

Harry suppressed a sigh. They were lunching at The Three Broomsticks after Harry’s appointment with the estate agent. The site had been perfect and Harry had signed a two year lease on the spot.

“I’m fine, honestly,” he replied. “I just had a shit night’s sleep last night.”

“Yeah, you do look like shit,” Ron replied with a grin.

“Cheers mate,” Harry said, giving him a middle finger.

“How are things with Teddy?”

“Teddy’s fine, I think.”

“I didn’t ask how Teddy is. I asked if you’d finally grown a pair and told him how you feel about him.”

“What?!”

“I may be oblivious most of the time, mate, but even I can see you’ve fallen for him and Merlin knows he feels the same way about you. It’s been blindingly obvious for weeks.”

“You’re well off, mate. Teddy definitely doesn’t see me that way.”

“Hermione did say you would need it spelled out for you. I’m telling you, Teddy utterly adores you.”

“Well, for the first time in her entire life, Hermione is wrong.”

“She’s not, mate!”

“She is!”

“She’s not. Teddy as good us told her a week or so ago. Said he was waiting for you to feel the same way. And we’ve all noticed the way you look at him, so I know you do.”

“Ron, please stop talking.”

“Not until you see sense.”

“I am being perfectly sensible, thank you very much,” Harry said, gritting his teeth.

“You’re not. You’re being blinder than you are without your glasses!”

“If I’m so fucking blind,” Harry said, the bitter anger he had tried to ignore since he had left Grimmauld Place earlier in the day erupting, “why did I see Teddy take DENNIS CREAVEY TO HIS BEDROOM LAST NIGHT?!”

As his words echoed around the now silent pub, several of the glasses hanging above the bar counter shattered.

“Fuck’s sake!” Harry muttered. 

He got up from the table, a gawping Ron left speechless at his outburst.

“I’m sorry about the glasses, Madam Rosmerta,” Harry said, his voice shaking. “Let me know if this isn’t enough to cover the cost of the glasses and lunch,” he continued, placing more than enough money on the counter and then turning to leave the pub.

“Wait, Harry!” he heard Ron shout after him.

“I need to be alone, Ron. I’m sorry that I shouted at you.”

“Where are you going?”

“I dunno,” he replied, before turning on the spot and disapparating out of the pub.

When he apparated he realised he had taken himself to an alley in Muggle London which was beside a favourite pub. He had sheltered here on many an evening with his friends in order to avoid the whispers, glances and fawning that usually occurred if he dared drink anywhere ‘wizard’.

A few minutes later, he was sat at a table in the back with a pint and a whisky chaser before him. He had already downed a shot of whisky at the bar and was morosely preparing to settle in for a lonely solo booze session.

Happy fucking Birthday!

It was then that it occurred to him that neither Teddy nor Ron had wished him ‘Happy Birthday’. He supposed he hadn’t given Teddy much chance to say anything, but he’d been with Ron for nearly two hours. Two hours in which Ron had regaled him with stories about how Ginny was already being driven to distraction by their mother over the plans for the wedding, about his own happiness with Hermione and how he suspected Fleur and Angelina might both be pregnant. 

They’ve all moved on. Everyone but you. They don’t have time to remember it’s your birthday. Pretty soon, they won’t have time for you at all.

He tried desperately to ignore the voice in his head. He knew, deep down, that it wasn’t true. Ron was notoriously crap at remembering anyone’s birthdays. Harry had had to remind him a week in advance every year about Hermione’s birthday. They might all be moving on, they might all have kids one day and grandkids, but they’d never exclude Harry from that, even if he remained miserably single for eternity. He knew that, just like he knew he would have to swallow the bitterness and plaster on a smile tomorrow. This anger and resentment wasn’t him and he didn’t want to turn into that person.

But for one day only, he would let the despair take over and then drink it away. It was his birthday, after all.

 

It was late evening as Harry staggered up the steps of Grimmauld Place. He hadn’t tried to apparate, for fear of splinching himself. He’d caught a taxi from the pub, which he had just all but fallen out of. He stared blearily at the front door. It took several attempts before he was able to get the key in the lock and the door swung open. 

He wobbled his way down the hallway, somehow managing to knock against both walls. Although he knew he shouldn’t, he decided he deserved a nightcap and made his way into the living room.

“SURPRISE!”

He was blinded by the lights suddenly turning on and as his sight cleared he saw all his friends and family grinning at him. A huge ‘Happy Birthday Harry!’ banner was suspended from the ceiling, countless balloons floating around it and everyone was wearing a party hat, even Percy. He saw all this in a millisecond, whilst his instinctive reaction at the sudden noise was to reach for his wand.

“Expelliarmus!” Ron cried and grabbed Harry’s wand as it flew out of his hand.

“Fucking hell!” Harry cried.

“Harry!” he heard Molly admonish him.

“Sorry, Molly,” he managed to croak, before he felt a sudden rising nausea and vomited on the carpet. The laughter and chattering which had greeted his initial surprise quietened.

“Oh, Merlin!” he groaned and was sick again.

“Is he drunk?” he heard Percy’s judgemental voice stage whisper.

“It’s alright mate, we’ve got you,” he heard Ron say, grasping him around the shoulders and ushering him to a sofa.

He felt tears of shame prick in his eyes. 

“I’m so sorry, Ron,” he slurred. “I shouted a’ you!”

“It’s alright, mate,” Ron comforted him.

“No, no iss no’! I’m such a rubbish friend!” 

The sight of all his friends and family gathered together had pricked the bubble of anger he had inhabited that day and now all he was left with was drunken guilt. He started weeping.

“I’m juss so. . . lonely. I wan’ someone . . . to love . . . me, thass all,” Harry managed to get out between sobs.

“Everyone in this room loves you, mate, that’s why we’re here.”

“Not that kinda. . . love, Ron! Why. . . can’ . . . I find . . . someone to love . . . me? I fink . . . I might . . . be broken”

“Mate, that’s just not true.”

Harry felt another person sit down next to him. He recognised the person’s scent immediately.

“Ted, I’m so sorry! I was so horrible to you this morning! I’m happy for you! You deserve to have found someone and Dennis is. . . great. You deserve love. You’re . . . you’re perfect.”

This last confession was succeeded by more wracking sobs.

“I’m gonna. . . die. . . alone!” Harry wept some more.

“Er. . . I think we should go,” he heard Bill say.

“No bloody way! I’m getting popcorn, this is too brilliant!” he heard George exclaim, before a resounding slap. “Ow! Mum!”

“George Weasley! You are going to leave right now and you will not mock poor Harry about this, or so help me. . .!”

“Alright! Alright!”

He felt Ron rub him on his back and then get up.

“We’ll see you tomorrow, mate. It will all be better in the morning, you’ll see.”

He then felt someone kiss him on the top of his head.

“Get a good night’s sleep and then have a proper chat with Teddy in the morning, Harry. We love you and just want you to be happy. You deserve it more than anyone,” Hermione said.

“Mum may have told George not to mock you, but I made no promises,” Ginny whispered in his ear. “We all love you, Harry, you plonker. Some of us more than others. . .”

“You’re covered in Nargles, Harry. It’s no wonder you’re feeling down. But I’m sure they’ll be gone come the morning and you’ll feel right as rain,” Luna called out.

Teddy began rubbing him on his back and he heard the rest of the party leave. His sobs gradually came under control and after a few minutes he was hiccupping gently, whilst trying to avoid what he knew must be the look of either pity or faint disgust on Teddy’s face. He suddenly felt exhausted and his eyelids began to droop.

“Come Harry, let’s get you to bed,” Teddy said after a while.

He barely felt himself being lifted from the sofa and was only conscious of a little embarrassment that he had to be supported up the stairs. Teddy sat him on his bed and began unbuttoning his shirt.

“Whaddya doin?”

“Your shirt covered in sick, Harry. You can’t sleep in it.”

Harry nodded miserably and let Teddy take his shirt off. He batted his hand away, when he felt it on his belt.

“Harry, your jeans are covered in sick too.”

“I’m so pathetic,” Harry groaned.

He heard Teddy sigh. “You’re not pathetic, Harry. Quite the opposite. But you do need to go to bed.”

Harry didn’t have the strength to resist as Teddy undid his belt and pulled his jeans off. He then felt himself being manhandled so that he was lying on the bed and the duvet was placed over him.

“’Night Harry. Let’s speak in the morning,” he heard Teddy whisper as he fell into unconsciousness.


	17. Chapter 17

Friday, 1 August 2003

The first thing that Harry was aware of was the fact that his head felt like it was about to explode from the pain. His initial thought was that his scar was hurting for the first time in over 5 years, hurting worse than it ever had. His fuzzy mind then remembered that Voldemort was long dead and that his scar had no reason to hurt any more.

Then he remembered the reason why his head was hurting and groaned. Flashes of the day before came to him: his cold treatment of Teddy, shouting at Ron, drinking more pints than he had ever drunk in one sitting (all accompanied by whisky chasers). . .

“Oh Merlin!” Harry groaned again, the thought of alcohol making his stomach lurch and his mouth fill with saliva as whatever was left in his stomach prepared to make a reappearance. He had just enough time to notice the bucket on the floor by his bed and grab before vomiting violently.

When his stomach had finished reintroducing its contents to the world Harry collapsed back into the bed, one arm over his eyes.

Then he remembered what had happened upon his return home. He couldn’t remember everything that he had said, but what he could remember made him cringe with mortification. Then the memory of Teddy having to undress him came to him. He glanced nervously under the duvet and was relieved to see that he was still wearing his boxer shorts from yesterday.

“Merlin’s balls!” Harry muttered to himself. “Merlin’s sagging, hairy balls!”

He briefly contemplated shutting himself away for the rest of eternity in order to avoid the mixture of sympathy (Molly, Arthur, Ron, Hermione, Bill, Luna, possibly Neville), disgust (Percy, Teddy and probably Fleur) and mockery (Ginny, George, Charlie, Seamus, Dean, Draco) that awaited him. He knew that that would simply be avoiding the inevitable. The last time he had tried – grief-stricken, traumatised and in the grip of depression in the immediate aftermath of the War – it had taken Ron, Hermione and the Weasleys less than two days to break through the very powerful wards he had put up and to drag him into their collective embrace.

He sighed and contemplated the agony that would be trying to get out of bed. With his left arm still covering his eyes, he reached across to his bedside table for his glasses and felt, instead, a goblet. He glanced across and saw a goblet of what he knew must be a hangover potion (the post-it on the goblet with ‘Drink me immediately upon waking. Not that you deserve it, Potter!’ in Draco’s unmistakeable script gave it away). He managed a smile to himself as he gulped it down and then winced at the bitter taste, before smiling again as the headache disappeared and the nausea melted away.

Now all he had to do was get up and face the music.

After changing into his pyjama shorts and t-shirt, he hesitated for a couple of minutes at his bedroom door, nervously contemplating the door knob.

“For Merlin’s sake, you’ve faced a basilisk, a couple of dragons and Voldemort, you can face this!” he muttered to himself.

He braved himself and left the bedroom and headed downstairs. He peered into the living room. The banner and balloons were still floating at ceiling height, but otherwise there was no evidence of the surprise party. Harry sighed to himself as he considered the effort that someone had gone to, to organise it. His only job had been to turn up. He’d managed that, except vomiting profusely on the carpet and having an emotional breakdown had not been part of the job description.

As he approached the kitchen he could hear the sounds of someone moving about. He took a deep breath in and peered around the doorway.

Teddy was washing up, his back to the doorway. There was a plate of crispy bacon, a mound of pancakes and a pile of perfectly toasted bread on the kitchen table under a stasis charm. On the kitchen counter was a large cake. Harry could tell even from the doorway that it was a Quidditch pitch and that the detailing in the icing was very impressive. The guilt he had felt at the sight of the living room grew exponentially.

Teddy. It was Teddy who had organised the party. Molly was a great baker, but there was no way she could’ve baked that cake. It was Teddy. 

“Harry!”

Harry was jolted from his remorseful thoughts. 

“Hi,” he said, giving Teddy a weak smile.

“Hi,” Teddy returned.

“I’ve got about twenty different apologies to make today and you’re the one who deserves one the most.”

“You don’t need to. . .”

“Yes, I do. I was horrible to you yesterday morning. All because I was jealous, when I should have been happy for you. It was selfish and nasty and. . .”

“Harry, please. . .”

“Let me finish, Ted! I really am happy for you. I’m glad you’ve found Dennis. God knows, it’s been clear for ages that he fancies you. Anyway, the point is that I want you to know that you don’t have to worry about me at all. This is your home too and you can have him around whenever you want. I won’t be weird, I promise.

“But, I . . .”

“Let me finish! I want to be honest with you, because that is the best way for us to start over and be friends. I . . . I realised the day before yesterday that I loved you. I was going to tell you that evening. But that’s not your fault. It was unfair of me to expect you to wait around until I got my head out of my arse. I will get over it and I want us to be friends. I’d be . . . I’d be devastated if we couldn’t still be friends.”

Teddy was looking at him with an unreadable expression.

“So do you think we can be? Friends, I mean?”

“What if I don’t want to be friends?” Teddy asked.

Harry’s heart plummeted. He could understand Teddy feeling uncomfortable with Harry’s feelings, but he had never thought it possible that Teddy would want to end their friendship.

“I. . . I. . .” Harry stammered.

Teddy moved towards him and grabbed his face with both hands.

“What if I want to be more than friends?” he said, before leaning down and kissing Harry, their lips pressing firmly against each other and, before Harry had even had a second to comprehend what was happening, Teddy’s lips parted and he could feel his tongue flick into his mouth. 

As soon as it had started it was over and Harry stood gaping at Teddy’s grinning face. His heart felt like it was about to explode and the feeling of arousal from what had just been a five second kiss was practically bursting through his pyjama shorts.

“W. . .w. . .what about Dennis?”

“I’ve just kissed you – my first ever kiss, I might add (was it ok?) – and all you can think about is Dennis?” Teddy asked in mock offence.

“No! I mean, yes it was more than ok. It was. . . wonderful! But. . . you’re seeing Dennis.”

“No, Harry, I’m not seeing Dennis. He stayed the night in my bedroom, but I slept on the sofa in the living room.”

“But you said that you loved each other. I heard you. I was watching you from my bedroom doorway,” Harry said, blushing slightly at the last admission.

Teddy burst out laughing. “You were spying on us?”

“Not. . . I mean I wasn’t really spying, so much as. . .”

“Spying?”

“Shut up!”

Teddy grinned cheekily at Harry.

“You told him that you loved him.”

“Harry, I was drunk. And I meant it in a ‘I love you man’ kind of ‘friend’ way.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really! I may be inexperienced when it comes to love, but I know one thing and that is that there’s really only room for one person in my heart and that’s you.”

Harry’s face broke into a broad smile and his heart swooped.

“Wow!” was all he could manage.

Teddy ushered Harry to the kitchen table and made him sit as he served him a plateful of fluffy pancakes, bacon and maple syrup. He’d even made freshly squeezed orange juice alongside the pot of coffee which was Harry’s normal morning pick me up.

Harry glanced at Teddy as he tucked into his food. Teddy blushed and looked away.

“You just looked at me like you want to ravage me,” he whispered.

“That’s because I kind of do,” Harry replied.

Teddy’s blush deepened, though it was accompanied by a shy smile.

“You’re sure you feel the same way about me?”

“Ted, I may not have got to tell you how I feel the night before last, but I can tell you now: the last few months living and working with you have been the happiest of my life. I’ve had happy moments since the War, but at the back of all those moments has been a feeling that I’ve been missing something, or more specifically someone. All I’ve wanted is someone to share my life with and I know without a shadow of a doubt that that person is you. I feel like I’m the luckiest man in the wizarding world that you feel the same about me.”

“I’m nothing special,” Teddy objected.

“Ted, you’re incredibly special. Leaving aside the fact that you’re gorgeous,” Harry replied eliciting another deep blush from Teddy, “you’re kind and warm-hearted, affectionate, generous, intelligent, funny and loyal. And so unbelievably tall I’m worried that at least one of us is going to get a crick in their neck from the amount of kissing I intend us to indulge in.”

Teddy laughed and blushed again.

“But you’re. . .”

“Ted, I’m just me. ‘Harry Potter The Boy Who Lived’ isn’t me. It’s never been me. I’m just a bloke who owns a patisserie selling – if I do say so myself – excellent pastries and the best coffee in Diagon Alley. I hope I am a good friend – last night’s vomit and self-pity-fest aside – a good Seeker if there’s a scratch game of Quidditch happening and a pretty good present buyer. That’s all I am.”

Teddy smiled. “You are all those things, but I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree about whether you are much, much more than that.”

There was silence as they finished off their breakfasts, but they exchanged shy glances throughout and their feet began to rub against each other under the table.

As they were clearing up, standing side by side at the sink, Harry asked Teddy about the party.

“You organised the surprise party, didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” Teddy replied.

“And you baked that amazing cake?”

Teddy nodded.

“I’m so sorry that I ruined it all.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not like it took that long. I mean, I only: arranged with all your friends and family to come (and Zac, by the way, who was still there when you arrived), spent hours of my time-off baking the cake, blew up hundreds of balloons, made zillions of nibbles, kept everyone entertained as we waited for hours for you to return. . .”

“Shit! I am so sorry!”

Teddy burst out laughing. “I was only ribbing you! Kreacher somehow did the balloons and the banner with a click of his fingers. And he helped with the nibbles. Zac helped with the cake too. And Hermione was the one who rallied everyone to come and, I believe, threatened Ron’s testicles to prevent him giving anything away to you yesterday lunchtime.”

Harry laughed and flicked the hand towel he was holding at Teddy.

“And Kreacher had also cleared up by the time I got up. I think he left the banner and balloons up on purpose to make you feel bad. Last time I saw him, he was muttering about ‘Disgusting Young Master desecrating the carpet!’ You may need to beg his forgiveness.”

“Oh, Merlin! I’ll never live it down!” Harry moaned. 

He and Kreacher had settled into a comfortable ‘odd couple’ style relationship in the years after the War. Kreacher had never forgotten Harry’s gift of Regulus’ locket and had been strangely moved by his ‘death’ at the hands of Voldemort. He still spent most of the time scolding Harry’s lack of finesse, though the muttering had lost the sharp and nasty edge it had had during the time he had stayed in Grimmauld Place with Ron and Hermione prior to his Fifth Year and in the weeks leading up to their raid on the Ministry at the start of their hunt for the horcruxes. Kreacher now treated Harry more like an exasperated mother might treat a particularly frustrating teenaged son.

They were still laughing about it as they left for the patisserie. The day of work that followed was punctured with stolen glances and secret smiles. Teddy mischievously ran his hand across Harry’s backside a few times when Zac’s back was turned and Harry had retaliated by blowing gently on the back of his neck and had even managed a gentle brush of his package, which had made Teddy almost drop a tray of croissants.

Whilst Harry was too embarrassed to mention anything of the previous evening’s events to Zac – it was one thing to have done that in front of his close friends and family, but another to have done it in front of his employee – he noticed that Zac was now able to speak to him with the same informality with which he spoke to Teddy, albeit with an appropriate level of additional respect given Harry was his boss. Gone was the stammering, blushing and inability to look Harry in the eye. Clearly, seeing him vomit and then weep pitifully about his doomed love life had been all that Zac had needed to realise that Harry wasn’t, in fact, a supreme being. Harry wasn’t completely sure that he was happy with this turn of events.

“What’s up with you and the boss?” he overhead Zac asking Teddy towards the end of the day.

“What do you mean?” Teddy replied. 

“You’ve barely said a word to each other, but have been sending each other strange looks. And I saw you rub his arse!”

Harry stifled his laughter.

“Er. . . er. He had a. . . er. . . bit of flour on his jeans, that’s all.”

“Yeah, right! Did you finally shag?”

Harry heard the clang of a tray dropping to the floor. “What?!” Teddy squeaked.

“Well, it’s not like I haven’t noticed how close you two are. To be honest, I thought you were already shagging, but then George told me last night that you were both – and I quote – ‘more oblivious than a pair of stunned hippogriffs’ and that everyone was sick and tired of watching you dance round each other and just wished you have a proper shag. So did you?”

 

“What?!” Teddy squeaked again.

“Did. You. Shag?” Zac repeated.

“Um. . . er. . . None of your business!”

“That’s like ‘no comment’. It means ‘Yes’”

“No, it doesn’t!”

“It bloody does!”

“Well, it bloody doesn’t in this case!” Teddy hissed.

“Well, in that case, can you please do it soon? Watching you silently flirt whilst you think I’m not looking is making me slightly nauseous.”

Zac swept out of the kitchen and almost bumped into Harry who had been eavesdropping from the patisserie counter.

“Hi Boss! I’m going to go and clear up the tables outside. Do you want me to bring them in, given we’re almost closing?”

“Sure, Zac, that would be great.”

Harry approached Teddy, who was still looking stunned from his exchange with Zac.

“So, I guess we’re under instructions.”

“What?” Teddy said, shaking himself from his daze.

“We’ve been instructed to go and give each other a proper shagging,” Harry explained, wiggling his eyebrows and grinning.

Before Teddy could reply, Harry called out to Zac as he brought one of the folding tables in. 

“Zac, you’re ok to close up, aren’t you?”

“Sure, Boss.”

“Teddy and I are going to call it a day.”

Harry grabbed Teddy’s hand and just caught the smirk on Zac’s face as he apparated them to his bedroom.

Teddy was still looking slightly confused, so Harry grabbed his head and pulled him down. Their lips crashed together and Harry began nibbling on Teddy’s lower lip, and then flicked his tongue into his mouth.

“Is this ok?” he asked, as he broke the kiss.

“Merlin, yes!” Teddy replied, his face flushed with desire.

I think we’d better get more appropriately attired, Harry said. He waved his hands and Teddy was suddenly standing there in just his boxer briefs. Harry had left them on, as he wanted to remove them himself.

He hooked his fingers on either side and pulled them down, marvelling at what was revealed, his first sight of Teddy’s cock since the day of his coming of age. The wild, thick bush of golden brown curls which had previously covered his entire groin had been trimmed into a neat brush of hair, not that much larger in size than the one Teddy had had at fourteen. This only accentuated the size of the penis which hung down from the base of his pubic hair. It looked to be roughly the same size as when Harry had last seen it, but quickly began to swell as Harry ran his hand through Teddy’s pubic hair and his fingers brushed against his large ball. Within a few seconds, it had become fully erect and stood proudly upright, the large head well past Teddy’s six pack. His erection was long and thick, a good couple of inches longer than Harry’s own which was about 16.5cm and was now straining against his jeans. 

Teddy moaned as Harry clasped his hardness, his fingers unable to meet around Teddy’s penis as he began caressing it up and down.

“Merlin!” Teddy sighed. “Stop! I want to see you.”

Harry was about to wave his hand to remove his own clothes, but Teddy stopped him.

“I can’t do wandless and my wand is in my jeans. I want to undress you,” he said.

He led Harry to the bed and slowly took off his shirt as he stood at the foot of it, kissing down his neck as he threw the shirt behind him and then nibbling one of Harry’s earlobes. His hands rubbed Harry’s chest hair and then one began gently teasing a nipple as the other slowly crept down Harry’s stomach towards his belt. He struggled with the belt and Harry began to giggle. Teddy flushed.

“Shh, it’s fine,” Harry said, gently kissing Teddy. He unbuckled his belt and undid the top button of his jeans, before guiding Teddy’s hand to his zip.

Teddy slowly drew the zip downwards and then pushed Harry’s jeans to the floor. He rubbed his hand against Harry’s erection as Harry stepped out of the jeans. Teddy pushed him onto the bed.

He clambered on top of Harry, his legs kneeling on either side of Harry’s own. He grabbed hungrily at Harry’s boxer shorts, pulling them down as Harry raised his arse.

Teddy bit his lip and sighed. “You’re so gorgeous,” he gasped.

He then peered down at with affectionately, and Harry’s hand brushed against his stubbled cheek. A lock of Teddy’s hair fell over his eyes as he turned and kissed Harry’s hand and he then leant down and kissed Harry hungrily, a kiss which Harry returned with equal fervour, their tongues crossing and darting against each other.

Teddy was now lying on top of him and Harry could feel his hard length pressing against his own, rubbing together as they passionately kissed. It was the most connected Harry had ever felt to another person and his mind wondered at what his feelings would be when they moved beyond gentle frotting. 

Teddy broke the kiss and raised his chest. Harry moved his hands to caress Teddy’s chest hair and then Teddy leant back down and began kissing him along his jaw, into the nape of his neck, down onto his chest where he teased Harry’s nipples with his tongue and teeth. His hand brushed up his right thigh and then, in a move which made Harry groan, his fingers caressed Harry’s balls, juggling with them until, at last, his strong hand gripped the length of Harry’s erection.

“Come for me Harry,” the man whispered into his ear as he continued to stroke him.

Harry was completely undone and felt his cock throb as ropes of cum spilled out of it.

“I love you Harry. I’m here for you, Harry, always,” the man said as he kissed Harry and looked lovingly into his eyes.

They fell asleep, with Teddy cuddling Harry to him. When they woke a couple of hours later, Harry had returned the favour. It was as far as they wanted to go that evening; they both knew there was plenty of time for them to do all the other things they could do to show their love for each other.


	18. Chapter 18

Saturday, 1 May 2010

“Daddy!” he heard a shrill voice cry from the living room, followed by the scamper of feet approaching the kitchen.

“Yes, Jamie,” Harry replied, trying not to sigh.

His five year old and eldest son ran into the kitchen clutching a toy dragon. As was usually the case, he was completely naked.

“Remus bwoke my dwagon!”

“Here, let Daddy fix it,” Harry said, holding out his hand and waving it over the toy Hungarian Horntail which was placed there.

“Remember that Remus is only three, Jamie, so he will probably break lots of things without meaning to,” Harry said, fondly running his hand through his son’s blond hair. James looked just like Teddy had at the same age, except for the bright green eyes which he shared with Harry.

“He’s almost four, Daddy,” Jamie corrected, before scampering back to the living room.

Harry smiled to himself. Yes, Remus was turning 4 next week. He was only 13 months younger than Jamie and looked like a miniature Harry, though he had Teddy’s sparkling hazel eyes. Neither of them had inherited Teddy’s metamorphmagus skills. That genetic inheritance had passed to their 20 month old daughter, Lily, and the 7 month old Arthur who Harry now approached to try to encourage to finish his lunch. The battle had been waging for nearly an hour and Arthur’s hair was now turning red, which indicated he was about to have a meltdown.

“Where’s your papa when I need him, huh?” he asked.

“Right here,” a warm voice replied from the doorway.

Harry turned around, grinning broadly. Teddy was carrying Lily, who had fallen asleep in his arms.

“Hi darling,” Teddy said.

Harry returned the greeting and gave Teddy a gentle kiss on the lips.

“Lily’s worn out from our shopping trip. Why don’t you put her to be bed for a nap and I’ll see whether I can get the Little Monster to finish his lunch?”

“That would be great. I’ve been trying for an hour and he’s on the verge of an epic tantrum.”

Teddy gave Harry an affectionate squeeze on the shoulder as he took Lily off him and Harry felt a powerful surge of feeling. They made a great team and, true to his promise, Teddy had been there for Harry through all the ups and downs of the last seven years. Mainly ups: their engagement just six months after that first night they had slept together and the wedding in the garden of The Burrow four months after that. It had been a gorgeous early summer’s day, a gentle breeze brushing the leaves in the trees and spreading the smell of the beautiful arrangements which Molly had made through the crowd of their closest friends and family. Ron and Hermione had been Harry’s ‘Best People’ and Draco and Dennis Teddy’s Best Men. Molly had shed copious tears as they had exchanged vows and the burst of magic when they had kissed and the bond between them had been formally forged had been like nothing anyone at the wedding had ever seen. It should not, therefore, have been a surprise when, a little over a month later they had learned that Teddy was pregnant. In April the following year, James Sirius Potter-Lupin had greeted the world. Four short, sleep-deprived months later the unexpected news that Harry was pregnant. Remus Albus Potter-Lupin had been born just a few weeks after Ron and Hermione’s first child, Rose, and Draco and Astoria’s Scorpius and the prospect of their children being in the same year at Hogwarts had thrilled them all. Harry had always wanted a large family and Teddy felt the same, so Lily Nymphadora had been planned and came along a week or so before Rose’s brother, Hugo. Harry blamed severe sleep-deprivation on the fact that they had clearly forgotten to use the contraceptive spell and they discovered four months later that Harry was pregnant for a second time. Not that they didn’t adore little Arthur Rubeus, but they had both agreed that four children was quite enough, thank you very much. Arthur would be in the same year at Hogwarts as Ginny and Michael’s twins, Fabian and Gideon. Countless other births had occurred in the same period and family gatherings at The Burrow were now noisy and exhausting, though full of love and laughter. Quite how Molly managed to knit the increasing number of Christmas jumpers every year was beyond Harry. When heavily pregnant with Remus and too large and tired to work in the kitchen or behind the counter at the patisserie, he had tried his hand at knitting. Needless to say, Teddy adored his misshapen, loosely threaded scarf. Harry had quit whilst he was behind.

The patisserie and café businesses were booming. Zac ran the branch in Hogsmeade, Teddy remained in Diagon Alley and Harry now ran the branch which they had opened just before Lily’s birth in Godric’s Hollow. 

There had been some downs sprinkled in amongst the happy events of the last few years. Kreacher’s death just over a year ago had come as more of a blow to Harry than he had ever expected it would. He had grown fond of the irascible elf and Teddy had been especially close to him given his role as ‘nanny’ during his childhood. Winky now helped out at Grimmauld Place, though very much as a ‘free elf’ (albeit one who insisted that she only required two days off a month, and that only after Harry had had to negotiate her ‘up’ from one day a month). Buckbeak had died just over 7 months ago on the same day that Arthur had been born. Harry and Teddy had resisted the grief-stricken Hagrid’s suggestion that they name their fourth born after the proud hippogriff. Hagrid, although pleased as punch to have his name as Arthur’s middle name, had nevertheless taken to calling Arthur ‘Bucky’. Neither Harry nor Teddy had the heart to put a stop to it.

As Harry looked down at his sleeping daughter, her thumb firmly in her mouth and her hair (its natural auburn in her sleep) thickly curling around her head, he smiled to himself. Two ‘downs’ amongst the happiness of the last seven years wasn’t too bad at all, he thought to himself.

He felt arms wrap around his waist and leaned backwards into Teddy’s arms.

“You make me so happy, Mr Potter-Lupin,” he whispered.

“Always and forever, Mr Potter-Lupin,”

The End


End file.
